LISTEN: Senator Wehner fires back at Senate President, PM, AG for getting the law wrong and ridiculing opposition

Opposition Senator Jonathan Wehner has accused the Senate President, Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin of disregarding the Constitution and parliamentary standing orders in the controversy surrounding Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle’s removal from Parliament before Tuesday’s Throne Speech.

Speaking on Observer Radio following the dramatic walkout by opposition senators and MPs, Wehner argued that Pringle should have been allowed to take the oath of allegiance before proceedings began and described the government’s actions as legally flawed and lacking compassion.

“We are sick and tired that our democracy is under threat,” Wehner said during the interview, where he laid out what he described as constitutional and procedural breaches.

Pringle was asked to leave the joint sitting after it was determined that he had not taken the oath in Parliament following his re-election. Opposition members later exited the chamber in protest.

Wehner said Section 48(1) of the Constitution specifically allows proceedings necessary for a member to take the oath of allegiance and argued that parliamentary officials had already anticipated the process by instructing members to arrive early.

“The Constitution is clear,” Wehner said, repeatedly insisting that the oath should have been administered before the Throne Speech began.

He also cited Standing Order 15, which outlines the order of parliamentary business and lists the “oath of allegiance of a new member” among the first items of business after prayers.

Wehner accused government officials of deliberately refusing to administer the oath in order to punish Pringle over his absence from a previous sitting, which he said was due to the opposition leader attending to his daughter’s medical situation overseas.

“Why is it that we do our job as parliamentarians? We show up early. We are there to take part. We are there to do the nation’s business. But you refuse to administer the oath,” Wehner said.

The opposition senator also criticized what he described as mockery from government benches over Pringle’s family circumstances, calling for greater empathy from political leaders.

“You can’t go after people’s family,” Wehner said, while urging both sides of the political divide to “do better.”

Prime Minister Browne earlier dismissed the opposition walkout, reportedly describing opposition members as “a bunch of dunces,” a remark Wehner referenced repeatedly during the interview while defending the opposition’s actions.

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