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  • 6 hours ago
Saved by the prorogation of Parliament! With the privileges matter against Senators Janelle John-Bates and Faris Al-Rawi now discontinued, the ball is firmly back in the Opposition Leader's court. However the Opposition Leader tells the media, the Privileges Committee's report was key to her determination. Rynessa Cutting has more.
Transcript
00:00With Parliament now prorogued without a decision from the Privileges Committee, as it relates to Senators Janelle John-Bates and
00:09Faris al-Rawi, it remains to be seen whether the opposition leader will take a disciplinary action against them.
00:16However, with the committee not completing its work, it appears that Beckels is in a bit of a quagmire.
00:23For me, the most important thing was the issue of natural justice and the process. So the matter had been
00:29sent to the Privileges Committee, which would, of course, have allowed her and Senators Janelle John-Bates to give their
00:35own evidence.
00:36So we were waiting patiently because we know that the committee completed the proceedings.
00:43And so yesterday we expected to have a report ready that would be able to tell the public and the
00:50country and certainly give me the kind of information I needed.
00:54And there was no report, as I understand, that was submitted, even though the Senate met yesterday.
00:59In the absence of a report, the PNN political leader says she will discuss the matter further with her executive.
01:07So I have to get my own feedback. Senator Avery Brown is the person that is on the Privileges Committee.
01:14So that based on that and the fact that the Parliament was prorogued last night at 12 o'clock and
01:21there's no report,
01:22I will meet with my colleagues, with Avery, who will give me some feedback because I know they were trying
01:28to arrive at a report.
01:30So I cannot say exactly what would have transpired, but I will get my feedback on Monday, which would assist
01:36me in terms of my decision.
01:38Meantime, with the Deputy House Speaker rejecting the motion, seeking leave to refer House Speaker Jack Dio-Singh to the
01:45Privileges Committee
01:46over allegations of conflict of interest linked to the very same inquiry into pharmaceuticals.
01:52The opposition leader is once again raising concerns of potential bias.
01:58It's very interesting that there are certain matters they deal with very, very quickly.
02:03So when they talk about issues of speed and indecisiveness, there are several matters that they simply ignore.
02:10And there are others, for example, like Senator Bates, Senator Halwari, which they dealt with very quickly, including meeting on
02:19a Saturday.
02:19For example, you would remember the matter that was raised against the Prime Minister.
02:23I mean, they ruled very, very quickly on that matter.
02:26And others, they simply, there's no ruling.
02:28So there's no ruling against the matter as it relates to Minister Sobers.
02:32They took their while in relation to the motion raised by the Speaker.
02:37So you, the opposition, therefore, we have to, we have to sit as a caucus and we have to decide
02:44moving forward, how do we address these issues?
02:47Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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