Members of the official opposition protested in the House of Assembly this week. The Official Leader of the Opposition and Member of Parliament for Marco City, the Hon. Michael Pintard said that government should keep its word and answer questions that have been on the calendar for a long time.
During the sitting, Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly and Member of Parliament for West Grand Bahama and Bimini, the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe informed that documents would be tabled and the House would suspend until February 20th.
Pintard spoke in Parliament saying, “we have communicated through the leader of opposition business as well as through myself, I spoke with the Member for West End on the very day that the Member for St. Anne’s spoke to him in the evening by way of text. We were assured we will proceed with question and answer. Madam Speaker, we have missed numerous Wednesdays. We have no idea what will happen on the twentieth. We believe that it is inappropriate that we are unable to get the government to live up to its word. We are not prepared to accept what the Member has said.”
Wilchcombe responded to Pintard’s statements saying, “the government of The Bahamas, this side, has not at any occasion when committed to and we’ve spoken in this Parliament, when we’ve committed to the Chair what this side intends to do, we do not refrain Madam Speaker. We are going to, on the twentieth, we will have the questions answered and we will have the debate on twentieth.”
The opposition members subsequently began to hit on the tables with there hands in protest while chanting “answer the questions”. The House of Assembly was adjourned to February 20th.