Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly, David Carty, held a press conference on Wednesday this week. He told reporters it was called to set the record straight in relation to allegations by Opposition Member Hubert Hughes.

Speaker, David Carty

The Road South representative had alleged that there was an attempt to “sneak” the Proceeds of Crime Bill through the Assembly, that the Minister of Finance had called a meeting of the House, instead of the Speaker, and that the Speaker, whose role he questioned, had an allegiance to the United Front Government.

Mr. Carty said it was totally untrue that the Minister had summoned the meeting and stressed that he, the Speaker, was the only person who could convene a sitting of the House. “I think it is appropriate for me to respond to what the member had to say, partly because it is very unfortunate that he should seemingly so deliberately twist the facts; and secondly in an attempt to remind the people of Anguilla…of the importance to which I place on the passage of legislation through this House while I am Speaker,” Mr. Carty stated. “Had the member limited his attack on the Government, that would be a political matter and in no way concern me…”

He gave a chronology of events from the publication of the Proceeds of Crime Bill in the Official Gazette on May 12, to July 13 when the draft legislation eventually came before the House for passage following a series of postponements for discussions and amendments to remove the tensions that surrounded it and to ensure that the concerns of lawyers and the general public were put to rest. “I am satisfied that as Speaker I did not collude with the Government in any way to railroad the Bill [through the House of Assembly] in any form or fashion and, as the chronology shows, we had an 8-week transition and I have heard no other protests,” Mr. Carty said.

He observed that if the constitutional requirement for the dissolution of the House were to be followed, he had no more than nine months left as Speaker. He went on: “I take this opportunity yet again to remind everyone, particularly the members of the House, that they have a peculiar responsibility as Elected Members…to propose passionately and oppose aggressively and I am duty-bound to protect those rights. They have to do it in a respectful way and uphold the dignity of the House.

“We cannot be preaching at young people about their behaviour … and then show disrespect in the institution in the land that can pass laws and send the average citizen in the direction of jail. There are two institutions in our constitution that have the right to incarcerate us: the House of Assembly and the Court or the Judiciary. I take that responsibility very seriously and I would like to think that members of the House do the same. It is obvious that the new House, when it is elected next year, is going to have at least three new faces – may be more, as three members are retiring. In that case, the new members who are coming in need to see an example of responsibility; and I am disappointed that the Member for Road South would not only twist the facts, but made it very clear that this was a collusion on the part of the Speaker who is a member of a political party and, according to him, [colluded] with the Government to railroad this piece of critical legislation through the House. I take exception to that. In fact, I resent it.

Mr. Carty made this acknowledgement: “On a personal note, I think it is common knowledge that I have been a political activist for sometime. I have certainly been a political activist for the United Front in its election. That is not a secret. However, since I have been elected as Speaker of this Assembly, I have been very cautious and very scrupulous not to say anything of a political nature; not even to attend a political party public or private meeting or otherwise…I have not involved myself in any political activity whatsoever, nor will I so long as I remain Speaker of the Assembly. I do that because the Speaker of our Assembly has a duty to ensure that the majority rules and that the minority speaks. Therefore he must be perceived as at all times to be even-handed and fair…

“I speak only on one matter that concerns public policy and that is the issue of renewable energy and climate change. I have done so by an open and transparent letter to every member of the House, telling them of my intention and asking for their permission and I have been satisfied in conversations with all my colleague-Speakers in the OECS that this is unheard of for a Speaker to ask an Assembly for permission to speak publicly…I have taken this to an extreme because Anguilla is small and because I would like to see the House of Assembly maintain and grow its integrity as an institution. So I have taken the unprecedented step of asking the members of the House for permission to speak publicly on issues of renewable energy and climate change which they have all, including the members of the Opposition, readily agreed to.”

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