‘I must defend Parliament’

PARLIAMENT MUST BE protected and “the buck stops at me”, Speaker of the House of Assembly Michael Carrington said yesterday.
Emerging from an interview with police in connection with a NATION report following an Opposition walkout from the House last July 16, Carrington defended his decision to place the report in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
He said based on the rights of Members of Parliament (MPs) under the Parliament Privileges, Immunities and Powers Act Cap 9, offences may have been committed in The NATION newspaper report which quoted opposition criticism of the Speaker’s rulings.
“It was brought to my attention that certain statements had been made, a certain story had appeared in The NATION, and I was of the view after doing the usual consultations that certain offences may have been committed under that act. Under that act, before any action can be taken with respect to those offences, the DPP has to give the okay basically, so I did what I considered to be my duty to draw the situation to the DPP, and apparently he instructed the members of the Royal Barbados Police Force to investigate the complaint – the matter. That is why it has reached this stage,” he explained at District “A” Police Station yesterday.