The Parliamentary Opposition in the House of Assembly boycotted the Sitting on Tuesday 13th June, 2023. The Opposition Bench then went to the radio station, Klass FM to address the public on their reasons for walking out of the House.
After the Opposition members had vacated the Atlin Noraldo Harrigan Parliamentary Building, the Honourable Speaker of the House Mrs. Barbara Webster-Bourne notified the public that the entire Opposition Bench had left the Sitting without her consent.
In essence, the MPs walked out when the Speaker had refused to allow Island-wide Member, Mr. Kyle Hodge, a chance to voice his view on rulings that the Speaker had read, prohibiting him from asking questions of the Premier with regard to Minister Quincia Gumbs-Marie’s recent conduct.
Explaining why the House was boycotted, the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge said: “When I saw that the Speaker had out-rightly refused the questions that the Single Island-wide Member, Kyle Hodge, had raised, I was extremely concerned. The fact is that the rule relating to subjudice is not applicable in this case.
“There are two points under which the Speaker sought to reject the questions raised by Mr. Hodge,” she said. “One was subjudice, which is referenced by the Parliamentary Procedures of Erskine May. This rule applies when disputes are tried and decided in the courts of law. The reason why the Speaker retracted the rule of subjudice for refusing Mr. Hodge’s questions is because there has been no charge and there is no person before the court. Therefore, there is no basis upon which the Speaker can claim subjudice.”
“The second ruling that the Speaker is seeking to rely on is inaccurate as well,” Mrs. Richardson-Hodge contended. “That is why the Honourable Kyle Hodge stood up in the House of Assembly in an attempt to explain to the Speaker that her interpretation of the rule in refusing to allow the questions in the House was wrong.”
“What she is essentially saying is that you cannot raise any issue relating to the conduct of an elected Member or Minister of Government unless it is by way of a motion. A motion is used when there is a debate. For example, if Mr. Hodge was seeking to censure Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie or to take some form of action against her, then that would have required a motion.”
However, as she precisely explained, “All of what Kyle was asking were questions to the Premier, as to his failure to take any action, and the concerns that the public has about his reasons for failing to take such action. The Premier has said that there is an ongoing criminal investigation on this matter. But, as we know, the criminal investigation is separate and apart from the Minister’s conduct. And, the questions that Kyle would have asked were in relation to that conduct as a Minister of Government.”
