Minister Sedi Elrington on Why He “Named” Julius Espat

Michael Peyrefitte

The Prime Minister slipped the media today following a cabinet meeting, but his ministers were out to do damage control on Friday’s outrageous House Meeting.  Pickstock Area Representative Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington is the sole member of the House of Representatives to have risen and indirectly name fellow Cayo South’s Julius Espat for improper conduct during Friday’s House Meeting.  Elrington’s motion came after the Speaker of the House repeatedly appealed to ministers to cause Espat to be named, following a heated back and forth in the House.  Despite a constant request from Michael Peyrefitte to have a sitting minister name Espat, no one did.  That’s until Elrington decided to do so by standing up and tacitly addressing his colleague which ended in the suspension of Espat.  Whether that motion was indeed lawful is the subject of much debate; the Opposition says the procedure was wrong and Espat says he will return to the House. This afternoon, following today’s Cabinet Meeting, we asked Elrington to share why he went where no one else did.

Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Area Representative, Pickstock

“I thought that the representative had lost complete and total respect for the Speaker and it’s not so much the individual but the institution that has to be respected.  Once you lose respect for the institution then you start going down a slippery slope and you don’t know where you will end up.  So I thought it was very regrettable that he behaved in that way.  I thought it was compounded by the fact that all his colleagues left the House where they are being paid to represent the nation and to engage in debate and went outside with him.  They should have stayed and debated because they get paid every month to do that and the House only has sessions perhaps four or five times a year.  So that you don’t give up a golden opportunity like that, particularly in light of the fact that there were so many pressing issues that need ventilation, but they just filed out.  They did the same thing that they used to do under Francis Fonseca, almost as if though they are looking for an excuse not to represent the people.  I thought that was disappointing.”

Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington

Isani Cayetano

“Now as a legal mind and as someone who is very forthright when it comes to procedures and what-have-you, in terms of the method or the manner in which Mr. Espat was named, do you believe that the Speaker of the House followed these procedures to a letter?”

Wilfred Elrington

“It is not something that I have looked at in any depth Isani, I got the impression that the Speaker was being very tolerant and indulgent.  As a matter of fact, I wondered why he waited so long to deal with him but in terms of whether the law was followed to the letter I’m not sure.  Candidly, I’m not sure.  I haven’t looked back at my standing orders to see whether all the I’s were dotted and the T’s were crossed, but I thought that he was generally very, very patient.  I thought the member for Cayo South was really out of hand, I mean that was uncalled for.”