The A New United Guyana (ANUG) says it is repulsed by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall’s “dildo” comment in the Committee of Supply earlier this week during the consideration of budget 2022’s estimates.
According to the party, the minister’s outburst reflects something more ominous.
“It is clear from the video recording that Dharamlall’s repulsive outburst was not orchestrated or rehearsed; it was spontaneous. When an outburst is made so viscerally and instinctively, that moment of honesty reveals much of the nature of the man, and reflects not on the person he was addressing, but on himself,” ANUG said.
While Dharamlall has apologized for the utterance, ANUG said that other government parliamentarians and the Speaker, Manzoor Nadir, have been silent.
“It is worse because the statement was made in the crumbling sanctity of our Parliament, where the nominees of the elected leaders congregate. It is worse because there was no response, no immediate and unequivocal condemnation, from Priya, from Oneidge, from Vindhya, from Gail or from the men seated next to them. It is worse because the Speaker, who imposes discipline, actually sanctioned an opposition member who protested against Dharamlall’s crassness,” the party noted.
It was Sherod Duncan who was eventually suspended after he repeatedly directed the word “nasty” to Dharamlall, and refused to take his seat.
Insofar as Dharamlall is concerned, ANUG asks: “If he can show such colours under the spotlight of recorded Parliament debates, what is he capable of as head of the Ministry to which he has been entrusted, where the scrutiny is less rigorous? What treatment and conduct can the public servants who work under him expect from him?”
ANUG concluded by calling on the President to remove Dharamlall from office, maintaining that “he has no place among the leadership of our country”.
