The business of the National Assembly was at a standstill for 15 minutes last evening when Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland, walked out of the chambers in the face of a refusal by the opposition side of the house to follow his directives.
In the face of what leader of the House, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo deemed an “unprecedented” display of “disrespectful”, “disorderly” and “un-parliamentary” behaviour Speaker Scotland chose to end a confrontation with the opposition by vacating the chamber.
This latest confrontation between Scotland and the Opposition Members of Parliament started when opposition backbencher Nigel Dharamlall refused to withdraw his statement that the Government of Guyana was “decimating” the Indigenous People. Dharamlall had made the statement during his presentation on a motion brought by his colleague Pauline Sukhai to