A contentious atmosphere enveloped the parliamentary session on Thursday as Speaker Ronnia Durham-Balcombe deferred her ruling on a point of order raised by Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves. The dispute originated from a remark made by Deputy Prime Minister St. Clair Leacock during the 2026 Budget debate, which Gonsalves deemed unparliamentary and demanded retraction.
Gonsalves asserted that upon entering the chamber, he overheard Leacock making a derogatory comment directed at him. He promptly raised a point of order, urging the Deputy Prime Minister to apologize. “I am sure in your reading that that is not Parliamentary language to refer to someone,” Gonsalves addressed the Speaker. “I think he would wish to do ‘mea culpa’ and say that I am sorry about that and move on.”
While Speaker Durham-Balcombe acknowledged some merit in Gonsalves’ objection, characterizing the comment as an epithet, Leacock declined to apologize or retract his statement. Instead, he referenced previous parliamentary exchanges, stating, “The last time this movie played, my response was ‘the imps’ appear.” This defiance prompted Gonsalves to threaten leaving the session, declaring Parliament “a complete joke.”
The tension was compounded by an earlier procedural conflict where Gonsalves raised another point of order against Minister Laverne Gibson-Velox for reading her speech verbatim, contrary to Standing Orders 33(9). The Speaker overruled this objection, revealing she had granted the minister special permission to read her presentation.
Speaker Durham-Balcombe subsequently admonished Gonsalves for his conduct, stating his reactions were “above and beyond” and warning that his behavior breached parliamentary decorum. She indicated she would delay her ruling on the initial point of order, exercising her authority to deliberate further.
Gonsalves defended his actions, emphasizing his commitment to maintaining parliamentary standards and expressing concern over perceived leniency toward government members. The session concluded with unresolved tensions, scheduled to resume Friday morning with Prime Minister Godwin Friday expected to conclude debate on the EC$1.9 million fiscal package.