Parliamentarians Appalled by LOO’s Response to House Speaker

Valerie Woods

Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow had choice words for House Speaker Valerie Woods in response to the failed no-confidence motion he attempted to bring before parliament on Friday.  His description of the presiding officer of the House of Representatives has left a bitter taste in the mouths of several parliamentarians, including Prime Minister John Briceño.

Prime Minister John Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño

“His answer or the level of disrespect for the Speaker of the House, I think, has come to a new low from the Leader of the Opposition.  Whenever you think he can’t  go any lower, he continues to surprise you or shocks you that he goes even lower, you know, the way he responded to the speaker as a waste of time and a political hack, things that you do not do.  I mean, Mrs. Longsworth, everybody knew who Mrs. Longsworth is or who she is politically, but we not once accused her.  There are many, many, many times she ruled against us and we felt that it was unfair, but we respected her decision.  She is the speaker, and that’s what it seems that the Leader of the Opposition does not understand, and most importantly is that what the Leader of the Opposition refuses to understand that the Standing Orders are very clear on how you can write your call for a vote of no-confidence.  And she pointed it out, she went to great lengths, I was pleasantly surprised that she actually took the time to not only look at the Standing Orders but look at what they call the bible for parliamentary procedure which is Erskine May, to point out to him in all the areas that he was wrong.”

Late this evening, the Belize Network of NGOs issued a statement supporting a call for the Privileges Committee of the House of Representatives to review the Leader of the Opposition’s actions in response to the Speaker with respect of the No-Confidence Motion.  The release goes on to say, “respect for the authority of the Speaker is not optional and is not limited to the physical confines of the National Assembly”.