Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow proposes Special Select Committee to look into rules violations by parliamentarians

By Aaron Humes: During the House debate on Friday on the Domestic Violence Motion, 2022, Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition and Mesopotamia area representative, called for more accountability for members of the National Assembly that engage in criminal activity and inappropriate conduct.

Mentioning his own run-in with Domestic violence he said, “I myself have been accused and it is not something that I take lightly. I have apologized to my wife, to my daughter, to my mother, my mother-in-law, all the women that support me, for even being remotely involved in such allegations. And I take it very serious. It was an isolated incident and it should never and will never happen again.”

Barrow proposed that in accordance with the Code of Conduct being developed by the National Assembly, a Special Select Committee chaired by House Speaker Valerie Woods should take up “not just gender-based violence but any instance in which any member of Parliament is alleged to be behaving in a way that falls short of the highest standards which we hold our parliamentarians to, that there should be additional steps taken by this House. I sit on the House Rules Committee. I believe that there should be a House Select Committee chaired by Madam Speaker and we should look into these allegations similar to when a person faces a criminal prosecution and they may be victorious but there can be a civil liability.”

This, Barrow said, would “put teeth into holding members of this House accountable… And even in those isolated incidents I would like that there be a procedure in the House, where if not GBV (gender-based violence), but any type of allegation of misbehaviour, inappropriate conduct, that we go further – further than if the criminal courts decide that they will not pursue it, that the House convenes a Special Select Committee to look into these matters.”

The House has a Committee of Privilege for House-related violations such as the incident with Julius Espat in 2016.

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