NASSAU| What the nation saw in the disrespect by Andre Rollins toward Madam Speaker this past week in Parliament is nothing new. Rolllins has a history of insulting or attacking women and we at Bahamas Press know he was “OFF” from the days when he served as MP for Fort Charlotte as a PLP.
Many forget how the then-PLP Government hitched an unknown MAD MAN (Rollins) to their party tent in 2012 following the departure of Alfred Sears from frontline politics. And one of the first functions hosted by the Fort Charlotte Branch with Rollins as its new “UNSTABLE” MP was to celebrate motherhood with the women of the constituency.
Rather than come to the branch and honour mothers who stood on the long lines to get rid of Hubert Ingraham as PM, Rollins committed a drive-by on the Mama Dem, never showed up and left the honorary event to be carried out by the faithful branch members. NOW THAT’S A DISGRACE!
From that day Bahamas Press questioned the PLP’s selection process and asked Party Leadership a repeated question “WHAT WAS ROLLINS BRINGING TO THE PARTY?” NO ONE COULD ANSWER!
You see, long before the slap on Rollins’ face by Loretta Butler Turner, we knew the MP Rollins had a loose screw somewhere above the shoulders. For some reason politicians and their electors forget that “UNSTABLE PEOPLE” with a history of mental illness should not be seated in Parliament. There is a reason for this ya know!
And while Rollins’ wild manic depression episodes continue in the glare of the public, we at Bahamas Press also believe the Speaker of Parliament Patricia Deveaux should equally exhibit sound Judicial Temperament when dealing with the mentally unstable in the Lower House. The Speaker must respond with a higher level of sane aptitude and level headedness!
We believe whenever persons like Rollins stand and begin to put on his circus suit, ready to swing from his seat to the mace, the sound response would be to quickly identify the rules. If that is not sufficient for the human making an ape-like impression, then simply call for order and politely ask the member to take his seat. And if the Circus begins to get loud on the opposite side of the bench a simple stand by the chair to resume order is the best path to regain control.
This may not be easy to follow. At least caging the unmedicated by removing a member from the chamber is justified. But the disrespect back and forth happened so quickly that it was hard to see how the scene in Parliament escalated so quickly!
What also cannot be ignored following this recent episode was the MP for St Anne’s who knew, in order for question time to happen, he should have made arrangements for the opposition to have its day. He never did that! Instead he allowed the time to expire without giving notice to the Leader of Government Business and that allowed Andre Rollins the MP for Long Island to parade like a fool.
Many forget how it was the MP for St Anne’s Adrian White who set up former St. Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright to throw the Mace out the window of Parliament. White opened the window allowing Cartwright to do the dirty work. And where is Cartwright today? He was thrown out of Parliament for good by the people of St James. Something is seriously wrong deep inside the FNM!
Could it be therefore a plot by Pintard and White to deliver the damaging public backlash on Andre Rollins who, just back in October, went rogue inside an FNM Conclave event, castigating a report and scolding the Pintard leadership?
In the end, after this week’s events, while Prime Minister Philip Davis was fighting for the Bahamas with world leaders, the madness and wild instability deep inside the Pintard FNM continues for six months following that 33 – 8 General Election.
We report yinner decide!
