ST. GEORGE ‘S, Grenada: The political ante was upped here this weekend following a protest walkout of the island’s parliament on Thursday by the opposition National Democratic Congress. Now feeling shut out in parliament, the NDC officials say they would take the “real issue” to the people at a hastily organized public meeting in Grand Anse on Sunday. The opposition protest came at the tailend of the debate on the island’s budget when House Speaker Lawrence Joseph ruled that Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell can speak for 90 minutes to wrap up the debate. Dr Mitchell had already debated earlier in the week, and was set to follow Finance Minister Anthony Boatswain, who after making the presentation last week Friday, began what most thought was the wrap-up on Wednesday. The Grenada opposition sought to challenge the ruling of the House Speaker saying that it broke the standing orders which seem to suggest that only one member of government can speak twice in budget deliberations. “We have the Prime Minister now speaking twice and the Minister of Finance speaking twice and everybody else speaking once. If ever there was unfairness, this is it,” opposition member Peter David told a press conference Thursday. The seven-member opposition returned to the sitting later in the debate to participate in the deliberations after Dr Mitchell had made his presentation before an opposition-empty chamber. Following the week-long robust debate, Prime Minister Dr Mitchell had position himself to have the last word. It was a strategy that was discussed among government members and some of his strategists for the entire week – get the Grenadian leader in a position where he can go unanswered. Initially the idea was for Dr Mitchell to speak late in the debate, but concerned about the public impact Opposition spokesman on economic Nazim Burke might have in reply to the presentation of the estimates of revenue and expenditure it was decided that the Grenadian leader should go upfront to share the media spotlight. Prime Minister first spoke on Monday. The sitting of the House ending in some confusion on Wednesday when Speaker Joseph said he would ponder overnight on the request for the Prime Minister to speak a second time. In that 12 hours the strategists on both sides were at work. One source told CARIBUPDATE that the speaker was in close contact overnight with top government officials on the strategy for the morning. Joseph was told in no uncertain terms that he cannot rule otherwise but allow the Prime Minister to speak. The opposition parliamentarians called an emergency session of their own at daybreak on Thursday, deciding that they would only give way to this request on one condition – that one of its members is also allowed to speak for a second time. In a telephone conversation overnight, Joseph was told he has to come out firing, take control of the proceedings and be firm from the very start. On the resumption Thursday, Speaker Joseph read from a prepared text saying that the Prime Minister will have the last word in a 90-minute allocation. He argued that he can so rule because the orders give the House Speaker discretionary powers in certain circumstances. The opposition members said this is only so when the orders were silent on a particular issue. In this case, they said, it was not. That was a view shared by former Attorney General and leader of the People’s Labour Movement Dr Francis Alexis. He called a press conference late Thursday and said the speaker’s ruling was both unfair and wrong. “What’s up here people?”” Dr Alexis asked sarcastically. “We have just seen the Grenada parliament hijacked by the New National party, and we will not be part of the undermining of the democracy of Grenada,” opposition leader Tillman Thomas told the radio news-show NEWSBREAK on Thursday. Government officials had argued that it had become the norm for the Prime Minister to wrap-up the debate. If that was so, Thomas said, it was wrong. “We don’t know what happened in parliament when we were not there. Obviously they treated the Prime Minister as if he is special. When it comes to the House of Representatives he is not special, he is just another member. He has to know that if he thinks he was special then, he no longer is,” Thomas quipped. “These people must understand that 21-thousand people voted for us, just a few hundreds less that voted for the NNP, and these 21-thousand people would not be shut up,” Burke said Thursday. “We were appointed by 21-thousand people, not by one man,” he said in sarcastic comment over the appointment of Speaker Joseph, an appointment the opposition had initially protest saying that he was not sufficiently “sanitized” from the political process to be a fair speaker. “We were concerned from the beginning about Mr Joseph. He is essentially an NNP operative,” Thomas said dismissively. St George’s was abuzz with talk of the walkout on Thursday after a tense session in parliament carried live on national television as Thomas, Burke, David and Kenrick Fullerton openly clashed with the speaker. Joseph said in his 15 years in various roles in parliament it is the first time he had seen such behavior. “The speaker made the ruling which is sacrosanct and you accept the ruling. It (the protest) was very distasteful to some extent,” Gregory Bowen, the leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives told CARIBUPDATE “They w\ere in mortal fear of the Prime Minister’s wrapping up,” he said. “What I want to point out is the disrespect for the speaker of the house. When the speaker rules it is unquestioned and it is not whether you like it or not,” Bowen said. The Prime Minister lambasted the walkout saying that it was done out of fear. The NDC said it is taking the issue to the people in a self-styled “people’s parliament” to be held Sunday. “The NNP wants to hijack this democracy and we would not stand for it. The people would not stand for it,” Burke said. The dust from Grenada’s closest elections in history has not yet settled. Three of the results from the November 27th poll have been challenged in court, with the real possibility that there can be fresh elections this year. Additionally the Governor General Sir Daniel Williams has announced intentions to set up a commission of enquiry into the elections after reports of several irregularities. But the opposition has said it would not participate until the matters before the courts are cleared up. “We have said it that this is a desperate, dying regime, and we saw it in full view today. This wind of change continues to blow and they are trying to gang up against it, but they can’t stop it,” David told CARIBUPDATE Friday morning. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM