Don't use rumour or supposition. That was the advice yesterday to parliamentarians in the House of Representatives from House Speaker Wade Mark. He addressed MPs on the issue shortly after he instructed Clerk of the House, Ralph Deonarine, to read into the record a response from former director of the Special Anti-Crime Unit Peter Joseph.
He had sought to have the response read out in the House after Attorney General Anand Ramlogan made allegations against him in the same place on March 9. Joseph said the allegations were severely damaging to him. After his response was read out, Speaker Mark told MPs:
"Free speech is the most important parliamentary privilege and members should be careful not to abuse it. "In exercising this right of free speech the individual member must be conscious of the importance of him/her to be trustworthy. It is the member who will ultimately be judged by an increasingly critical public."
Mark said irresponsible or reckless use of privilege could be predjudicial to the national interest and could injure persons who had no recourse within the House . He said: "Therefore I propose to adopt the practice of the UK House of Commons and urge all members to take steps before making a potentially damaging accusation against a named individual to ensure not only that evidence exists but that it comes from a proven reliable source.
