The unrelenting abuse of Opposition female members of Parliament by installed Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall came to a head recently when Member of Parliament Sherod Duncan spoke against the dastardly behaviour of Dharamlall. The installed Minister of Local Government and Regional Development was being questioned in relation to the budgetary alocallocation for his Ministry. He responded in one instance, “You got to get a dildo, that’s what you looking for.”
The Speaker of the House Mazoor Nadir made no attempt to reprimand or correct the Minister for his distasteful remarks. The Speaker’s silence on Dharamlall’s attack on females MPs forced APNU+AFC Duncan to take to the floor of the National Assembly in a loud manner in defence of his female colleague and also triggered a walk out of the house by all 31 APNU+AFC Members of Parliament in protest.
In a Letter to the Editor in Stabroek News yesterday women’s rights advocate Alexis Stephens stated, “We the Sisters of Mercy and Associates in Guyana condemn in no uncertain terms the minister’s statement and his behaviour. We also note with dismay and deep concern that the Speaker of the National Assembly did not upbraid Minister Dharamlall for his “dildo” comment, neither did any of his colleague ministers. The fact that the minister’s comment went unchecked by the Speaker points to a dangerous normalization of violence against women MPs and a total disregard for parliamentary norms.”
Also in a statement yesterday calling for his Minister Dharamlall’s sacking, A New and United Guyana party stated, “His vulgarity is reminiscent of another PPP Minister’s misogynistic exchange with a female social activist some years ago. But it is worse. It is worse because the statement was made in the crumbling sanctity of our Parliament, where the nominees of the elected leaders congregate. It is worse because there was no response, no immediate and unequivocal condemnation, from Priya, from Oneidge, from Vindhya, from Gail or from the men seated next to them. It is worse because the Speaker, who imposes discipline, actually sanctioned an opposition member who protested against Dharamlall’s crassness.”
During an interview recently with MP Duncan, who is also the host of our affiliate and popular social media show “In The Ring”, MP Natasha Singh-Lewis revealed that she was called the “utensil” and ‘elderly looking’ earlier in the morning by Minister Dharamlall. In December last the Minister was forced to issue an apology after he called for the ‘defrocking’ of the Chancellor of the Judiciary and another Appeals Court Judges for ruling against his Government in an elections petition case.
In a Facebook post in December Dharamlall said, “Same two judges who ruled that 33 is not the majority of 65. Their bias is obvious. They should be defrocked. Luckily, the Caribbean Court of Justice is our apex court”. After pressure from the Guyana Bar Association and the Opposition APNU+AFC, Dharamlall later apologized and edited the post.
