BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DEPUTY SPEAKER of the National Assembly the Hon. Michael Perkins has declared that statements made in an “article” sent to SKNVibes on behalf of the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) and published by this media house were false.
The press release,“Labour MP accuses Deputy Speaker of stifling democracy in Parliament”, was disseminated on January 28, 2016 by Erasmus Williams, who was the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary in the former Administration.
It was published unaltered on that evening and under it, as is the policy, SKNVibes’ disclaimer was placed.
It quoted the Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Two and Chairperson of the SKNLP, the Hon. Marcella Liburd when she appeared on Freedom 106.5 FM’s ‘Issues’ programme on January 26, 2016.
The release quotes Liburd as saying, “When I got up to speak but sat down for (Eugene) Hamilton, Leader of Government Business to speak, Hamilton goes on to adjourn the House at that particular point and time and when I protested, the Speaker said he caught Hamilton’s eye first and I was standing up before Hamilton.”
It further quoted her as saying, “Dr. Douglas wanted to contribute to the debate yesterday (Tuesday) and Hamilton jumped up right after (Ian) Patches finished and even though Dr. Douglas was indicating that he wanted to speak, the Deputy Speaker said he caught Hamilton eye first. He will always catch their eyes first. Is he there to catch people’s eyes or is he there to promote democracy to ensure that all is well?”
In addressing the issue during today’s (Feb. 19) sitting of Parliament, the Deputy Speaker said he believes matters of such a nature should be addressed head on and indicated his intentions of having a copy of the publication presented to the Hon. Liburd and have her respond at the next available opportunity.
“I want to place on the record of this Honourable House that if the SKNVibes has quoted the Hon. Marcella Liburd correctly, I place on record that I completely deny that this is what transpired in the House at that time in these two instances.”
Perkins explained that his recollection of what transpired on the day in question is quite different from that which was reported in the press release.
“Reference was made to the Hon. Member for St. Christopher Eight, Mr. Hamilton, and at that time I do vividly recall beginning to speak after someone had presented. The Hon. Hamilton had already risen from his seat and he resumed his seat once he realized I was about to make a statement. Once I had made the statement, the Hon. Hamilton rose and proposed an adjournment. I do recall that the Hon. Marcella Liburd was protesting that the Hon. Eugene Hamilton had proposed an adjournment, which I put the question to the House and the House agreed and we adjourned at that time.
“The second allegation which I am picking up from this article is that Dr. Douglas wanted to speak. I again totally and categorically deny that that happened. When an opportunity presented itself for the Hon. Member for Number Six to speak, some time passed. He made no indication that he wanted to speak and thereafter the Hon. Member for Number Eight, Mr. Hamilton, who was the mover of the Bill and thus was to wrap up that Bill, being the Fisheries Bill, rose and presented his final wrap on the Bill. So again for the record, if in fact these words reported by the SKNVibes are actual quotes of the Hon. Member for St. Christopher Number Two, Central Basseterre, that is not what happened in this Honourable House and that is a misrepresentation of what happened in this Honourable House.”
In corroborating the Deputy Speaker’s statements, the Hon. Eugene Hamilton said he recalled that during the sitting in question the Member for Constituency Number Six, the Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, had no interest in making a presentation.
“In fact he was playing with his phone. And had he risen to his feet, which he did not, I certainly would have sat down and given him an opportunity, but he never stood to his feet. Never! And so you are absolutely right that the publication is erroneous and if it indeed that the Hon. Member for Number Two accepts that the words were spoken by her, then it is a fabrication,” added the Hon. Eugene Liburd.
Opposition Senator the Hon. Nigel Carty had indicated that he wanted to voice his views on the issue but was prevented by the Speaker, who declared that since it did not concern him (Carty) there was no need for him to respond.
The Deputy Speaker however indicated that Dr. Douglas and Liburd (both of whom were absent during the discourse) would be given an opportunity to respond at the earliest convenience.
