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—-says Sarabo-Halley
Opposition Member of Parliament, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, who was allegedly assaulted at the hands of Minister of Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy said her perpetrator should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and expelled from the Parliament of Guyana.
The A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament made the call on Friday, two days after Minister McCoy is alleged to have physically assaulted her within the precinct of the National Assembly.
It is alleged that Minister McCoy on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, hit MP Sarabo-Halley with a phone to the left side of her temple while she was making her way to the restroom during the Consideration of the Budget Estimates at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. The Government Minister has since denied the allegation.
With her husband Clayton Halley by her side, MP Sarabo-Halley, during a virtual press conference on Friday, said Minister McCoy should be charged for assault and expelled from the National Assembly.
“No one who is capable and finds it okay to assault any other member of the National Assembly or anybody in society should not be allowed in the highest legislative body of the country,” MP Sarabo-Halley said. Failure to act, she said, would send a negative message to the rest of society, in particular women, who are depending on the Assembly to ensure their rights are protected.
Last Thursday, the Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones lobbied the Speaker Manzoor Nadir to remove and or suspend Minister McCoy from the National Assembly, however, the Speaker advised that such a request be brought by way of a motion. In objection, the Opposition MPs, with the exception of the lone Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) MP Lenox Shuman, banged their tables. At least five APNU+AFC MPs, including the Opposition Chief Whip, were suspended for disrupting the sitting of the National Assembly.
In responding to a question posed on the decision of the Speaker to proceed with the business of the House without frontally addressing the issue at hand, MP Sarabo-Halley said at a minimum, the accused should have been removed from the precinct of the National Assembly.
Well, I can’t say that I am an expert on the Standing Orders and I understand the different ways in which you deal with things but in the case of an assault in any normal circumstance, the person who is the aggressor is normally asked not to be around the person who is making the allegation is until the investigation is completed,” the Opposition MP said.
Since reporting the alleged physical assault to the Speaker and Clerk of the National Assembly and the Guyana Police Force, MP Sarabo-Halley has been accused of fabricating the assault by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
In setting the record straight, MP Sarabo-Halley provided a detailed account of what transpired the day she came under physical attack by the Minister, after weeks and possibly months of enduring verbal abuse at the hands of the very Minister.
The APNU+AFC MP said it was while proceeding to the washroom that she noticed a large group of PPP/C MPs hounding the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, who was there to present GECOM during the consideration of the budget estimates.
“I then turned to continue my way to the restroom, and there Mr Kwame McCoy was standing less than one foot away from me with his phone in my face. I raised my hand to block him from videoing me or taking any pictures of me; then Mr McCoy with phone in hand, just basically shoved me to my left temple. In complete shock, I asked him Mr McCoy why he hit me, why did he assault me and turned to see if anyone had seen what had happened,” MP McCoy recalled.
From where she stood, the Opposition Parliamentarian said there were two individuals standing across the corridor who were in clear sight of what had transpired.
Still in shock, MP Sarabo-Halley walked away, and subsequently informed the Speaker, Clerk and other Opposition Members of Parliament about what had transpired. The Speaker, according to MP Sarabo-Halley, said it was a matter for the police, and as such an official report was subsequently made.
“Since I was hit, I have had a pain on my left temple here and it has gone down to the side of my neck. I did a medical examination and they gave the final diagnosis that I just had head trauma and a strain in my muscle in my neck and the requisite medication was prescribed,” the MP said.
MP Sarabo-Halley said the entire incident has taken a toll on her, as she broke down in tears.
“When the incident occurred, I really thought of it as a moment in time, as something that just happened, but as you would know, I had to go into parliament Thursday, and it took me some time to even go into the building. I had to actually call one of my MP friends to get me from the car into the building. It was at that time that I understood the extent to which I was violated,” she said.
The MP said while many persons would have shared their experiences of violence, it is only now understands the magnitude of the issue.
“I can only imagine the trauma of women who are forced to face verbal and physical abuse alone,” she said while noting that the violation is doubled, first by the abuser and then secondly by those who accuse the victims of being dishonest.
“So now that the physical attack has occurred in my case, now the denial and the lies of Mr Kwame McCoy and Mr Anand Persuad who is saying that Mr McCoy was with him and he knows that I am lying, I am now made to suffer twice because of it,” he posited.
She added: “I am distress not only by the ease at which Mr. McCoy attacked me without any provocation and further distressed by the ease at which not the male but the female MPs on the PPP side took pleasure in making snide remarks at me when in the National Assembly [Thursday].”
MP Sarabo-Halley said there was no reason for her to accuse Minister McCoy wrongfully.
“I just want it to be known that I take no pleasure in having to be placed in any space where Kwame McCoy is, there is no need for me to want to make this up, I find no pleasure in it and so I am not sure why persons would want to insinuate that,” she made clear.
Her husband, not only spoke out against the attack on his wife but also the conduct of parliamentarians in the House.
“Sad to say, I am disgraced at the proceedings, at the way in which the Speaker manages the House, the way in which persons, who are elected officials, conduct themselves in the House,” he said.
Halley said based on the conduct of some parliamentarians in the House, it was expected that the situation would have deteriorated into a physical altercation. “It is tragic that it is my wife who had to endure the assault,” he said while noting that his wife is no trouble maker. Halley said it is Minister McCoy, who is a known miscreant.
The physical assault is currently being investigated by the police.