Dear Sir,

A few weeks ago during a conversation about the Marc Bean case with a legal friend, he said he thought the magistrate would throw the case out of court.

There were just too many political precedents where unsavory comments have been made around the world.

Toni Daniels would have made a decision on whether to pursue this matter civilly or as a criminal case and maybe her lawyer knew, or at least ought to have known, that it was a fair chance the case would have gone the way it did.

Nevertheless, raising the issue while the legal outcome may have been foreseeable, the ethical issue of a leader in a public place who chooses to allow himself to such use of words to a lady has begun a topic of its own, which only the public can judge.

It would be smart politics and an act of humanity for Marc Bean to apologise to Toni Daniels and admit that sort of language was unbecoming of anyone, let alone a leader and an aspirant leader of the country.

I like Marc; I would regard him almost like family. I think he is a very intelligent person, far more than can be appreciated, but I am not beholding to any respects that cause me to put aside decency and an expectation that my leaders will at least try to put forward the best behaviour.

Perhaps Toni also has some apologies to make. As a rookie politician, she should stick to issues to point out her criticism of the Opposition.

Taking on personal attacks in the public domain will attract the same. When you sleep with dogs, then you shouldn’t complain when you get bit by a flea.

I hope we all learn from this saga and do better. If we don’t learn, we will repeat the same behaviour and it will become a new standard.

We as a public do not have the handles or levers in our possession that allow us to address matters such as these because at the moment discipline is in the hands of Caesar.

It is high time we introduce or recall legislation and other means to address accountability for etiquette and code of conduct for all parliamentarians.

KHALID WASI