The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

HOUSE Speaker Dr Kendal Major tried to stop one of his party colleagues from discussing the incident in which FNM deputy leader Loretta Butler-Turner slapped Fort Charlotte MP Andre Rollins.

Dr Major four times cautioned Housing and Labour Minister Shane Gibson to refrain from specifically addressing the assault saying that it had already been settled and that the House of Assembly would not allow any Members of Parliament to add additional comments.

“Member for Golden Gates,resume your seat,” Dr Major commanded. “We are dealing with the Bill for the National Training Agency. The Bahamian people would agree that it is necessary.  

“We have dealt with that matter before (and) the chair refuses to deal with that or to allow any member in this place to deal with it any further. So I encourage you strongly to discontinue with your presentation.”

“The Chair is not changing it (the ruling). That’s the way it is. We are not going to deal with it in this place.”

However, Mr Gibson repeatedly defied the Speaker’s orders. He claimed he had received several e-mails from persons who were appalled over the incident. It was for that reason that he felt compelled to use his parliamentary privilege to address the slap.

Mr Gibson said: “No, Mr Speaker, I don’t agree with that. I understand and respect that but the point is this. I represent the wider public. 

“I don’t see how my voice could be muzzled to speak on an issue that is so important, particularly when you look at the state of crime in the country.

“Some of us may not have seen it as a big deal, what happened in here. But I see it as a big deal because we are the leaders. We are the ones who are supposed to be setting an example for others to follow.”

He chastised sitting FNM MPs for their support of Mrs Butler-Turner who maintained that she slapped Dr Rollins while standing just outside of the Speaker’s chambers after she asked him to remove his arm from around her. She said he was making lewd comments to her.

“You know what is most frightening about this whole thing? They all support what was done. They all justify it.”

A day later in the House of Assembly both MPs formally apologised to each other. Mrs Butler-Turner had said: “My conscience is much bigger than any career I might have. At the end of the day if it impacts me in a negative way then so be it (but) I can’t live with knowing that maybe I did something that other people look upon. Children are looking too and this essentially goes against the grain of all that I say I stand for.”

Dr Rollins later said that it was never his intention to cause the people of Fort Charlotte any embarrassment as a result of his representation of them.