Public Order Bill sent for public review after HOA row

By Delana Isles

THINGS got heated in the House of Assembly this week when the Public Order and Criminal Justice Bill came up for what was expected to be its first, second and third reading, and passage.

The public outcry surrounding the bill descended into disorder among the elected and appointed officials in the House on Monday (June 22).

Impassioned comments from government appointed member Hon. Maxovonna Thomas about the consultation period being widely ignored by the Opposition and local lawyers, led to a shouting match between him and PNP elected member Hon. Akierra Missick - an attorney herself.

Speaker of the House, Hon. Dwayne Taylor quelled the disagreement by ordering the two out, after shouting to be heard for several seconds.

When things quietened down, Hon. Taylor granted Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson’s motion that the bill should go through two readings by the Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles - the mover of bill - and debate among members of the House stayed until the public gets a chance to have a say.

Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Washington Misick was not in agreement with the suggestion, protesting vehemently that the provisions of the document should not be read in parliament before the public is first given a chance to be heard.

He was advocating for only a first reading of the document, if that, as it needed a lot more review before coming to the House, he said.

The vote for the AG’s two readings was granted 11 to five in favour.

The premier sought to assure the House and the public that the Government is not looking to take away the rights of citizens.

“We will educate persons on the bill, the Opposition as well as other members in this House will have the opportunity to look at the bill that is presented today and also be the benefactors of the amendments ahead of the debate and that is a commitment…the only objective is to get the bill ‘righter’.”

She also had some words for Hon. Misick’s insinuations that the Government was trying to sneak the bill past the public.

The premier pointed out that he and members on his side had several opportunities to offer comment on her suggestions that the bill be read twice on June 22, before being sent for public consultation.

“We gave notice, he had no response at that time, zero response and when he did respond, transparently I said to the leader of the Opposition ‘consider the people who this bill is seeking to protect’.

“The same issue of crime, threats on witnesses and jurors and judges, this situation that they are facing… this bill is not a bill to not criticise the premier or the Government, people can still cuss the Government and we will defend their right to do that.

“So don’t act as if this bill has nothing to do with the criminal situation that we have going on in Turks and Caicos,” she said.

The decision announced by the Government in parliament to hold the bill, came after several days of continuous public protests, both online and in front of the Premier’s Office.

Residents wanted the bill to first be presented to the public so that they can be educated on the provisions of the proposed law and can give feedback to protect their constitutionally enshrined rights to freedom of expression.

After the passage of her parliamentary motion, the premier also proposed that two members from the Government and two members from the Opposition should join the attorney general to capture all amendments that are made, as well as concerns by members of the public.

The bill went through its two readings, but Opposition members were not present as they had walked out of the House before the AG’s presentation.