AFC Leader Raphael Trotman has submitted to Parliament Office a motion calling on Member of Parliament and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Kellawan Lall for an explanation surrounding his conduct in a rum shop brawl and shooting incident on November 18, 2007.
Alternatively, Trotman is asking that in the absence of a sufficient and satisfactory explanation that the National Assembly “does state its displeasure with the member’s conduct.”
The preamble to the motion on the conduct of the PPP/C MP states that the national media reported that Lall was involved in an incident with a Joseph Doodnauth on November 18, 2007, at which time it was alleged that Lall “gun-whipped a young man and fired off his weapon indiscriminately in a brawl in an East Coast Demerara rumshop.”
The motion noted that since the reported incident, “there has been no response, or apology issued by the MP to clarify any misconception, answer any allegation, contradict, or explain any ambiguity that has arisen”.
It further noted that a number of residents in the vicinity of Montrose, East Coast Demerara, specifically, and other citizens have expressed concern and consternation about the conduct and behaviour of the minister, and the fact that there has been no action taken by the law enforcement authorities or the Guyana government.
The motion also said 1that it was being said that some members of the National Assembly were “unethical, pugilistic and disrespectful of the Laws of Guyana, such that a pall of shame and embarrassment hangs continuously over the collective membership.”
Trotman told Stabroek News that the motion, which is expected to come before the House at the next sitting, might not receive the full support of the House but he feels that Lall’s behaviour was a matter of grave concern and that it ought to be noted in Parliament where he sits as a member.
“Even if is shot down”, he said, the records would note that the AFC took a stand on the issue.
Commenting on the incident involving Lall and Doodnauth, a teenager, Leader of the Opposition and PNCR Leader Robert Corbin had said that the Guyanese people would censure the MP; GAP-ROAR MP Everall Franklin had called on the PPP/C to do what it felt was right; and the PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar had said that the party “had taken note” of the incident.
