Opposition Leader, Joseph Atherley, congratulates designated Deputy Speaker of the House and Member of Parliament for St. George North, Gline Clarke (left); and designated Speaker, Arthur Holder (centre), who is the Member of Parliament for St. Michael Central, after they were sworn in.
From left: Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament for St. Michael West, Bishop Joseph Atherley; Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn; Member of Parliament for St. Michael West Central, Ian Gooding-Edghill; and Member of Parliament for Christ Church South, Ralph Thorne, shared a light moment after the swearing-in ceremony held at Government House yesterday afternoon.
Second Opposition Senator still a mystery
THERE is still no word on who will be appointed the second Opposition Senator.
Yesterday, while the first Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn was sworn in by Governor General, Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason, Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley would only tell the media that the second senator would be named “shortly”, while encouraging the media to focus on Franklyn, who has been receiving high commendation as a choice for the senate. Atherley left the Barbados Labour Party on Thursday to become the leader of the Opposition. On Saturday, it was announced that Franklyn was Atherley’s first Senate pick.
Other Members of Parliament sworn in yesterday were Chairman of Committees Dr. Sonia Browne, Deputy Speaker Gline Clarke, Ian Gooding-Edghill, Speaker of the House Arthur Holder and Ralph Thorne, in time for the full sitting of the House of Assembly today.
Franklyn, a well-known trade unionist, while speaking to the media after the ceremony, reaffirmed his commitment made over the weekend to tackle the last-minute deals which were allegedly made under the last administration, with the hope that criminal charges would be brought against the guilty parties.
According to Franklyn, “The last government gave away a lot of tax concessions. I believe it is wrong. I know it is wrong. And it has to come to the Senate and it has to come to the House. If the House does not resolve to annul them, then the Senate can. We have 40 days after they are laid; they have not been laid yet because there [was] no House in session when they were made.
“I am waiting with bated breath to move a resolution to annul them. We are struggling for resources in this country and we can’t just flitter them away because we have good friends who want a concession.”
“The next thing I want to move against is those contracts I heard the Prime Minister talk about. It is unfair. You have people with contracts with a year and some going on them and then you renew them for five years. Even though the Boards and the Ministers have the power to do it, they did it improperly. It is called misfeasance in public office and it is a crime and I am going to lobby to see that something is done about that crime. You cannot be using the people’s resources to feather the nest of your friends,” he argued.
Franklyn says he believes there is enough existing evidence that the Royal Barbados Police Force can investigate.
“The Police will have to refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the DPP will have to make the decision, but if they are not charged it won’t be because I didn’t try,” he said. (JH)