Opposition leader denies attitude towards speaker is gender-based
Hanna-Martin: Show the same patience for Deveaux as for Moultrie
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Acting Prime Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin on Wednesday accused Opposition Leader Michael Pintard of being hypocritical in his position against House Speaker Patricia Deveaux when he did not behave the same way with the previous controversial speaker.
Hanna-Martin made the comment during a heated exchange with Pintard that centered around his recent “disrespect” towards Deveaux when she sought to chastise members for their behavior in the House.
The matter was raised by Elizabeth MP JoBeth Coleby-Davis, who at the start of her contribution offered the speaker support for her work thus far and took a shot at opposition members who sat in the last Parliament but failed to support the Englerston MP.
I was here and that was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in this Parliament. Because I could not speak, I was treated differently; I was oppressed.
– Acting Prime Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin
Pintard, who took issue with the assertion, stood to make a point of order and accused Coleby-Davis of seeking to make the matter into a gender-based one.
He charged that the discussion about respect for the speaker is not an issue of gender, but one of a difference of opinion on whether they believe they are spoken to in a different way.
The MARCO City MP said it has nothing to do with gender but the bias against the opposition and the appropriate tone to be used towards them.
However, when pressed by Leader of Government Business Obie Wilchcombe on why the same position wasn’t taken with former House Speaker Halson Moultrie, who was criticized throughout his tenure for certain utterances, Pintard said the matter didn’t rise to the level at the time.
Remember Moultrie?
In February 2018, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) opposition moved a resolution for a vote of “no confidence” in Moultrie, but it failed.
The vote ended with 26 MPs supporting the Free National Movement’s affirmation of confidence in the speaker. Four voted no, seven were absent and one abstained from the vote.
The move came after Moultrie suspended three opposition members for two sittings after they walked out of Parliament when the speaker launched a verbal attack on retired Senior Clerk Maurice Tynes.
A week prior, Hanna-Martin was named and suspended after attempting to raise the issue of two employees who were fired from Exuma International Airport.
Pintard said on Wednesday that it was not his duty to “defend every member” and noted that when there were issues with the speaker that he thought were inappropriate or disagreed with, he made his position known publicly.
But Hanna-Martin insisted that while the former government and Pintard himself failed to acknowledge the “egregious conduct” of Moultrie, “the nation did”.
“I’m shocked that you see anything that happened in this Parliament post-September 2021 that makes you uncomfortable,” she said.
She further contended that while she could not conclude whether his interactions with her were biased based on gender, the recent actions of the current opposition against Deveaux were hypocritical.
“It’s a fact she’s a woman but now all of a sudden you take some righteous position on positions taken by this speaker and the only point being made is there appears to be a level of hypocrisy and disingenuous positioning on the matter,” Hanna-Martin said.
“Now, you could disagree or not disagree, but I was here and that was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in this Parliament. Because I could not speak, I was treated differently; I was oppressed.”
She added: “This is a new speaker and we would like you to exhibit at least the level of patience that you seemed to have demonstrated with behavior that shocked the nation, but you didn’t think it rose to that level.”
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