Speaker: I am fair

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barry Sinanan, yesterday dismissed charges of bias by Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath and Leader of the Opposition Basdeo Panday. He insisted he has been fair in his rulings. On Friday last Ramnath dared Sinanan to suspend him from the House, and on Monday at a UNC political rally at Princes Town he urged Sinanan to “Go to Hell.”.The Opposition has also hinted at a no-confidence motion in the Speaker. But Sinanan yesterday told Newsday he has acted impartially and in accordance with parliamentary norms, even once disallowing a member of Government to speak who had not followed the House’s procedures. Asked if he regretted last Friday’s events in the House which saw Ramnath’s outburst, Sinanan said: “Obviously, I regret that the House had to come to that sad situation which it came to. The Speaker is guided by the Standing Orders, May’s Rules of Practice, precedent, practice, and convention.”

Had Ramnath availed himself of all possible parliamentary devices to address Minister of Legal Affairs Camille Robinson-Regis’ alleged misleading of the House? Sinanan replied: “No comment on that.” Did the Speaker fail to point out to Ramnath that he had the option to offer a personal explanation to the House? Sinanan replied: “Mr Ramnath is a very seasoned politician, more seasoned than many.  I pointed out to him that he could avail himself of the full 75 minutes. Mr Ramnath rose on a point of order. I ruled him out of order and told him he would have 75 minutes to rebut what he alleged was not true.”  Asked whether there existed a point of order that a member was misleading the House, as Ramnath had complained of  Robinson-Regis, Sinanan replied no, explaining: “The Minister was alleging Mr Ramnath took a document out of the chamber. How would I know if he did, or not?”

Asked if Ramnath’s “Go to Hell” remarks had breached any rule or convention of Parliament, a guarded Sinanan said: “I’m looking at it. I’ll ask my secretary to check that.”  What was his reaction to the outburst? He replied: “No reaction. I think the members of the press ought to get...Do you have a reaction?” Told of a UNC press release which accused him of meeting Minister of Local Government, Jarette Narine, during the parliamentary tea-break to block the Opposition from speaking, Sin-anan, reacted with bemused laughter, noting that a reporter in the public gallery could have seen what really happened. Sinanan said: “The Standing Orders say that when a member wants to speak he must stand and seek to catch the eye of the Speaker. If you were there, you judge. You must stand up and then the Speaker calls you. If you don’t stand, how’s the Speaker to see you? If a member sits and indicates that he wants to speak, he will stay right there. It happened once on the Government side” (with him as Speaker)”.

He insisted he had no biases, “none whatsoever.” “I operate the House in accordance with the Standing Orders, parliamentary practice and procedure, and precedent, and that’s my only guide. I’m being accused of a lot of things, but I can’t be a judge in my own cause. Some people in the House will say one thing, others will say the other, and the press is there with a very great responsibility to communicate the truth. The press sometimes only stays until 4.30 pm. It would be a good idea for the press to attend the entire sitting of the House”.  (See page 5).