Dames Denies Police Presence to Prevent Hanna-Martin from HOA
|
Click to Listen Now
|
Opposition says it would place the RBPF before the courts if it prevents Glenys Hanna-Martin from entering the House of Assembly
Hanna-Martin accused Dames of organizing officers in Parliament Square, to prevent her from entering the House of Assembling following last week’s rant when she hurled insults in the House, to which the Speaker Halson Moultrie requested that she apologize.
Dames said, “The presence of the police officers here this morning had nothing to do the minister with responsibility for national security, had nothing to do with this government.
“To suggest that this minister or this government directed the police to do such a thing is erroneous and misplaced.”
Dames says the commissioner of police has operational responsibility for the Royal Bahamas Police Force and he nor the government will not take it upon itself to dictate to the RBPF how it ought to execute its duties.
“On what basis the commissioner and his executive team decided that they needed a presence out here this morning, that’s on them.
“As they moved on into the morning, they amended and made changes where necessary. That’s normal policing, anywhere the world over,” Dames said.
In describing the police’s presence, Hanna-Martin said, “I was shocked at the number of police officers in the square, across the road, in Parliament Street with huge guns…People were shocked at the number of police officers and the big, big guns. The big guns. Can you imagine Mr Speaker, the big guns. The guns were very big.”
Opposition Leader Philip Davis said the presence of police officers were an “overkill,”.
He said, “The minister must know that the police will be exposed to a civil suit and a restraining order for violating the constitutional right of a Member of Parliament to access unimpeded the precincts of Parliament.”
The opposition said it received a letter from the Speaker that Hanna-Martin is to be excluded from the House if she did not apologize to the Speaker for what he claims was disrespectful conduct toward him and members of the House at the last sitting.
#houseofassemblybahamas #parliamentbahamas #csjreport #glenyshannamartin #plp#progressiveliberalparty #marvindames #nationalsecuritybahamas #halsonmoultrie
