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.
03:33Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
Comments