Shyne Barrow, “My response was totally in order.”

Valerie Woods

Friday’s house meeting wasn’t without its share of disagreement on the contentious topic of the stillborn, no-confidence motion that was requested by Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow.  According to Barrow, the request was filed eight days in advance of the August eleventh sitting of the House of Representatives, giving the Speaker of the House sufficient time to respond to the submission.  He also says that a response on the matter wasn’t given until the night before the session was to be held, prompting a curt reply from him.  Barrow’s response has been met with strong condemnation from fellow parliamentarians, including House Speaker Valerie Woods.  Earlier today, the Leader of the Opposition spoke with reporters prior to boarding a flight to San Pedro.  Here’s what he told us.

Shyne Barrow

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“My response was totally in order.  The Speaker of the House is not a dictator, she is not the head of state.  This is a democracy.  Speakers and opposition leaders historically, throughout our region, are always in court and always in disagreement and the theme is always an accusation of bias.  So it should be no different in this instance where, if you recall, I rose on the adjournment to talk about redistricting.  The speaker made an erroneous decision to prevent me from speaking on the matter of redistricting because she said that the issue was live in court.  That is absolute nonsense, a consent order means that the matter has been settled.  So again, the reverence that I see the People’s United Party and other people saying that should be given to the speaker has to be reciprocated to the Leader of the Opposition.  I am the duly elected Opposition Leader which means I represent all thirty-one constituencies whenever I go into that House of Representatives.  So when it is that the speaker is demonstrating a pattern of bias, it must be called out.”