Speaker lifts ban on Priya Manickchand

Speaker lifts ban on Priya Manickchand

Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman on Thursday said having reviewed tapes of the interruption by Education Priya Manickchand and her later statement, he has decided that he will no longer block the Minister from making her presentation during the Budget debates.

Manickchand was banned by the Speaker on Tuesday after she shouted from her bench that the APNU ought to ask its Member Sharma about statutory rape. Her statement was made during the presentation by APNU Member Volda Lawrence.

The Speaker at the time called her outburst “dastardly” and demanded that she apologise for the remark. She refused and the ban was imposed.

On Wednesday, Manickchand said she did not mean to interrupt the sitting and did not mean to offend anyone. She however, continued to refuse to apologise.

The Speaker has since said that based on his review, the Minister’s statement may not have been directed at the APNU Member, Jaipaul Sharma. The younger Sharma himself had told the assembly that he felt it was an attack on his father, CN Sharma.

TV Host and Justice for All Party Leader CN Sharma is currently before the courts on carnal knowledge. The Political Leader was in the National Assembly on Thursday seated in the public gallery. His son who is reportedly unwell did not attend the sitting.

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