The Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) walked out of Parliament last night, citing unfair treatment from Speaker of the House, Michael Carrington.
Opposition Leader Mia Mottley packed up her bags at exactly 7:04 p.m., and her 12 colleagues followed in unison and in protest, after an adamant Carrington refused to provide Mottley with a copy of the House’s official record so as to clarify a previous statement.
Moments before, Carrington had told Mottley to take her seat, ruling that her comments be struck off the record in the process. After the walk-out, the 13 Opposition members proceeded to Parliament’s West Wing, where an impromptu special meeting was held in the Opposition’s office.
Minister of Finance Chris Sincker spent the final 29 minutes of the evening session wrapping up the debate on the National Insurance and Social Security Amendment Bill, speaking to his Democratic Labour Party colleagues and a host of empty chairs on the other side.
“We will not literally stand and conspire with the Government to create a circus of distraction from people’s real problems in this country,” Mottley told the MIDWEEK NATION after the half-hour meeting with her BLP colleagues.