00:00Sanjeev Boudou was appointed a temporary senator on Monday in the absence of Janelle John Bates.
00:06She is sought leave from the president of the Senate on the basis that she is feeling unwell.
00:12So she will be out for today's sitting and Senator Sanjeev Boudou is well known to the Senate
00:20and an excellent young contributor to debates.
00:24He is also the deputy political leader of the People's National Movement.
00:28You will be filling in for today.
00:30It comes amid John Bates' submission of her resignation to opposition leader Penelope Beckles
00:36after a matter of a conflict of interest arose, which is now before the Privileges Committee of Parliament.
00:42The senator, along with Senator Farris Al-Rawi, senior counsel,
00:46would have contributed to editing the witness statement of former Health Minister Terence D'Alsing
00:51at a public accounts committee, which she was sitting on.
00:55Senator Dr. Amory Brown says it is a complex situation.
01:00The leader of the opposition has requested and received a number of reports,
01:04which I know she is giving due consideration to and speaking to the relevant individuals
01:10who would have been a part of this situation.
01:13And in due course, I suspect in the near future, will give her determination.
01:20But Dr. Brown is reminding the public that the future of a young parliamentarian is what's at stake.
01:26He says there are also serious questions of a conflict of interest pertaining to chairman of the committee,
01:32Jagdeo Singh, and how contents of an in-camera deliberation ended up being made public.
01:38Would you say that the party is split concerning this Senator Bates issue,
01:43or is it going in one direction?
01:45The party is not split at all. The party respects decisions of the leadership.
01:52The party has given support and space to our leader to make the right determination.
01:58Meanwhile, Al-Rawi tells us he is unable to comment on the matter based on the progression of it.
02:04If I make the mistake of speaking about the Committee of Privileges,
02:08I will offend the standing orders, and I will be held in contempt.
02:13The UNC would love me to make a mistake and lift legal professional privilege before it's lifted,
02:17and then report me to the Law Association.
02:20And they would love me to speak about the parliamentary committees that are in-camera,
02:24and then suffer contempt. So let's not go there.
02:27And it's a similar response from Independent Senator Sophia Choate, Senior Counsel,
02:32in relation to the time it is taking for the opposition to make a determination.
02:36There are many things in play at the moment, one of which is there is a privileges committee
02:42which has been set up. As far as I'm concerned, once that committee has been set up,
02:47I can't comment on those issues.
02:49Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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