ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA: The ‘F’ word, as in ‘Frustration” was in vogue among opposition leaders here on two fronts this week, as they say the government of Keith Mitchell is bent on “not accounting” to the Grenadian people. Opposition and independent Senators had moves to discuss the allegations against the Prime Minister blocked Tuesday, the same day House of Representatives officials were challenging a gag order by the Speaker barring public reporting on deliberations of a committee of the house. “These people are finding all ways to hijack this democracy. They are operating this government as if it is a secret lodge society,” opposition leader Tillman Thomas said Wednesday. What has the opposition seeing red is a letter sent by House Speaker Lawrence Joseph to Thomas declaring that “with immediate effect media personnel or any member of the public shall not be permitted to record the proceedings of the (Public Accounts) committee by cameras or by any other recording device nor undertake premature publication of the Committee in any way.” The Public Accounts Committee, dominated by opposition members, is regarded as a critical committee where tough questions are asked about government’s financial dealings. ‘This is a place where the first signs of corruption that is endemic in this regime is sometimes exposed, and the move by the speaker is to ensure that any such thing is hidden from the public view," said Nazim Burke, the opposition's point-man on finance. But Joseph said that based on regulations any evidence before the Committee must be brought back to the full House of representatives before any publication, and even then the evidence can only be published with his consent. Opposition officials particularly worry about the speaker giving his “consent” since they have already declared that Joseph, a former chairman of the ruling party and a cabinet member less than a year ago, has shown little inclination to be impartial. “It is accordingly my view and that of the other members of the Committee that the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee are of a public nature. As such, any attempt to restrict the media would amount to interference with the democratic process and an encroachment on the right of the press,” Thomas said in a reply letter to Joseph Tuesday. “We are further of the view that the issue of premature publication does not arise because the press has a right to inform the population on all matters under investigation,” he further stated. This new argument also came on the day opposition and independent senators in the upper house dramatically “sealed” their mouths with duct tape in a symbolic gesture after moves to get a motion discussed calling for an investigation into the behavior of Prime Minister Mitchell was not put on the order paper. Parliamentary officials say they cannot debate the issue of Prime Minister Mitchell’s behavior on the now infamous 2000 visit to Europe because he has since filed suits for libel arising out of the accusations. It is the same argument that was used in an attempt to stop any debate in the House of Representatives two weeks ago. Labor Senator Chester Humphrey argued that the entire cabinet including the Prime Minister is accountable to the people for their actions in office. He said tough scrutiny of such actions is part of any serious democratic process. The proposed motion was calling for a joint committee of parliament to appoint a panel "chaired by an eminent jurist" to fully investigate the allegations that prime Minister Mitchell may have received a half million dollar bribe, and report back to parliament within 90 days. George Prime and Arly Gill, two of the opposition senators had come to the meeting direct from a session with Police Commissioner Fitzroy Bedeau. There they presented the top cop with “evidence” that they say warrant the police also initiating criminal investigations into the conduct of the Grenadian leader. But in a new twist to this ongoing saga, Jamaica Hugh Wildman, the prime minister’s own special prosecutor, suggested that the evidence the lawmakers gave to the police is in itself libelous, and strongly hinted a possibility that legal action might be taken against opposition leaders. “This is a government that has gone beserk and is completely out of control,” senior opposition MP Peter David said Wednesday. “What we have here is a classic fight between two visions of Grenada today – a fight between those who want decency in government and those who want to use government for other purposes,” he said. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM