Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzales has responded to a 'hot mic' comment by Attorney General John Jeremie, and he's calling on the AG to apologise. The call is also going out to the Prime Minister after her "cuff yuh down" comment to MP Imbert, and at least one of the Opposition MPs says, he will be taking the matter to the Privileges Committee. Rynessa Cutting reports.
00:00Attorney General John Jeremy in Parliament last Friday, but it is still uncertain who he had directed the comment to.
00:12Nevertheless, Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzalez is condemning the comments.
00:17I don't know if it was someone on the government side, on his side, or to a member of the opposition.
00:23But this is what we've heard, and the entire world would have heard the Attorney General saying,
00:30This is the Attorney General of the Cabinet of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:38Now, if you were to ask me personally, I would tell you I'm not surprised.
00:42Because from where I sit in the Parliament, I hear the Attorney General saying all manners of things.
00:46Where I sit in the Parliament or in the Chamber, I hear with my ears the Attorney General saying all manners of things that will shock the life of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
01:03So what you have heard, or what was captured by a hot mic event, is just to tell you, the people of Trinidad and Tobago, the kind of people that we have occupying office.
01:19Gonzalez says he intends to take action to preserve the dignity of the House.
01:23I will file a motion of privileges against the Honourable Attorney General on this matter.
01:32Because he cannot, he's a stranger to the House, you know, even though he's entitled to come to the House as a Senator.
01:39He is not an elected representative.
01:42And I am fed up of the Attorney General coming to the elected House and disrespecting elected members of Parliament.
01:51Meantime, Opposition MP Kalminbit is also weighing his options, after the Prime Minister threatened to cuff him down.
02:00He explains that he was simply trying to get the Speaker's attention, but the Prime Minister appears to have misunderstood.
02:07I'm, they're confused because I was talking to the Speaker and telling the Speaker the Prime Minister has also called for a division.
02:14And she says, don't point at me.
02:17Why not?
02:18And she says, because I will cuff you down.
02:20And she went on to say afterwards, come outside, implying that she would cuff me down outside.
02:26That's there as well.
02:28That is what happened.
02:29I am giving serious consideration to filing a motion of privilege.
02:33If I do, I would hope that the Speaker would treat it with the seriousness that it deserves.
02:39And that I'll make my decision tomorrow morning.
02:41Imbud notes, such a threat would be deemed a serious contempt of Parliament in the United Kingdom, with recommended sanctions ranging from reprimands to suspensions to expulsion.
02:52I did tell the Speaker, I repeated what the Prime Minister said and I called upon him to deal with it, but he did not.
03:00Okay?
03:00Whether he heard me or not, I don't know.
03:03The opposition is calling for the Prime Minister to take responsibility and accountability.
03:09And I ask my both colleagues, the Prime Minister and the leader of government business, to sincerely apologize for this egregious error.
03:21And let us commit to conducting ourselves in a manner that is befitting of the office that we hold, so that our citizens can respect our leaders.
Be the first to comment