Speaker of Parliament, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has summoned Opposition Member of Parliament, Praveen Bala to provide evidence of allegations that the Minister for Finance promised to increase payment of cane to $110 per tonne during the election campaign.
Yesterday, a point of order was raised by the Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad under Section 62(4) of the Standing Orders on the matter.
In making his ruling, Ratu Naiqama said Bala should provide evidence in actual words that the Deputy Prime Minister said this, where it was said and when it was said or withdraw this statement before Thursday.
Ratu Naiqama said if by Thursday, Bala fails to provide evidence or withdraw his statement then the matter will be referred to the Privileges Committee.
He said Standing Order 133 states that every Member of Parliament has the freedom of speech and debating in Parliament, which is subjected to the Standing Orders.
“Deliberately misleading Parliament is indeed a serious matter, which can also be a Contempt of Parliament. It is equally important to ensure that while speaking in Parliament, you should be factually correct as the public is listening and did not want to mislead the people and cause ethnic tension.”
“Furthermore, for bringing dishonour and disrepute to Parliament is a very serious in nature without proper and factual foundation and is categorized as a dishonour and disreputable offense that can be referred to the Privilege Committee,” Ratu Naiqama said.
During the budget debate yesterday, Bala said, “this budget does nothing for the sugarcane farmers who in the cane belt are asking what happened to the promise of $110 per tonne cane payment by the Minister for Finance.
Bala said “he comes from the cane belt, no matter what he says, he can bark like a dog to anyone but let me say this that it was him and his candidates during the campaign said to the farmers that they are going to give $110.”
He said, “the government, the media and the sugar industry unions are silent on the suffering of the poor cane farmers.”
Bala also said that “the new scholarship system to replace the TELS is a selling out of the principle of equal access to higher education, just to keep a badly thought out election promise.”
He said, “the Minister for Finance is simply keeping his job by keeping these promises.
He said, “in fact, Professor Prasad knows very well TELS is the only way to provide the most accessible means to provide higher education for all the of people.
“Its replacement is a system that many suffered under, and he would know of the discrimination based on racial grounds as he was a student in the 1980s and 1990s.”
The Speaker of Parliament added that the statement by Bala did not provide evidence in respect of Standing Orders 60(4) and is Out of Order for a Member of Parliament when speaking in Parliament.
