Moonilal's Motion Defeated In The House

Oropouche East MP, Dr. Roodal Moonilal, moved a Private Motion calling on the House of Representatives to censure House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George for her failure to act properly and impartially in the exercise of her office. It all stems from his call to debate an oil shipment by Paria Fuel Trading to Aruba, which was denied by the Speaker on April 27th 2020. In his Private Motion on Friday, Dr. Moonilal said the office has been put into disrepute and impartiality. He said the Speaker should have recused herself from ruling on the matter as her husband, Newman George, is the Chairman of Paria. He said his issue was not the rejection of the April 27th Motion but added that the Speaker should have known that the matter was a growing scandal. Dr. Moonilal called on the Speaker to make a public apology for her conduct, and further called on the House to condemn her for her actions. In his response, Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley said the debate was a waste of Parliament's valuable time, and accused Dr. Moonilal of using his motion to fight for his political survival. Dr. Rowley said the Speaker ruled that the content of the Motion from April 27th didn't qualify. He also questioned why the Speaker's husband was the subject of the debate, if the Motion, as Dr. Moonilal said, was not about the Speaker as a person or an individual. Dr. Rowley said the Motion was used to promote the MP for Oropouche East, and tarnish the speaker's name. With 14 votes For, 17 votes Against and zero Abstentions, the Private Motion calling on the House to censure the Speaker for her failure to act properly and impartially in the exercise of her office was not approved.