New Government anti-drug Minister Wayne Perinchief came under fire in the House of Assembly after an apparent U-turn over drug testing for MPs.

Mr. Perinchief and PLP colleagues blocked a motion from Patricia Gordon-Pamplin of the UBP that all MPs should voluntarily undergo random tests.

Although his party has previously resisted the idea, Mr. Perinchief told earlier this month that he personally favoured mandatory testing for all MPs.

However, after helping to defeat the motion calling for voluntary testing, he accused Opposition MPs of mounting an ?ambush? over the issue.

Introducing the motion to a packed House of Assembly early on Saturday morning, Shadow Minister of Works and Engineering Patricia Gordon-Pamplin refused to bow to Government pressure to withdraw it due to the late hour.

?We realise as legislators we are leaders of the country,? she said. ?We see legislation tabled and debated. We are not above the law, as bodies in the public eye, I ask we lead by example.?

?We ask that the Government support us in this initiative and they themselves ought to perform voluntary and random drug testing.?

With the recent appointment of Minister of National Drug Control Wayne Perinchief and his comments in support of drug testing she said she was excited to see who else in Government would support her motion.

Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell said: ?This is not an inquisition. It?s a mere affirmation by leaders of this country. It says we take the idea of a drug-free culture so seriously that we are willing to give up our time and share a moment of privacy with a professional who will share with us that this chamber is drug free.?

However, Ottiwell Simmons, the PLP party whip, moved the motion that the house should merely ?take note? of Patricia Gordon-Pamplin?s drug testing motion.

He said that it was for the new Ministry for National Drug Control, headed by Mr. Perinchief, to advise the house in future on this issue.

A total of 17 MPs voted in favour of the ?take note? motion and 13 against it in a vote that was along party lines with UPB members opposing it.

Suzann Roberts-Holshouser was among the UPB members who vented their spleen at Mr. Perinchief after the original motion was effectively defeated.?I?m disappointed. This blows my mind,? she said.

However, Mr. Perinchief hit back at those who were jeering at him from across the floor.

?I want her (Mrs. Roberts-Holshouser) and the country to know that I take my responsibility as the newly appointed Minister for Drug Control very seriously? he said.

?It is my personal belief, and my belief as a Minister for this Government, that this house should show leadership and be drug tested as a point of conscience. Each individual should decide whether they should be tested.?

However, he added: ?I don?t believe that by ambush one side or the other should put a group of people in a compromising position. I don?t believe the opposition has the right to impose arbitrarily their wish to have drug testing.?

Responding to the defeat of her motion, Ms Gordon-Pamplin told yesterday: ?Upon the appointment of a Minister for Drug Control, we believed him to be honest in his concern that leaders of our community should show, by example, that we are prepared to undergo random drug testing. The Minister has failed to realise that he does not have the luxury of personal comments while a member of Cabinet.

?Collective responsibility dictates that any member of Cabinet who speaks does so for himself and the entire Cabinet. For that Minister to also suggest that the Opposition chose to ambush the Government, when in fact the item was duly placed on the order paper, is nothing short of bizarre.

?I believe that the Government in watering down a substantive motion to a ?take note? motion again have failed to grasp the concept of true leadership. ?

Speaking yesterday Mr. Perinchief repeated his view that he would like to see random drug testing for all civil servants and MPs and said he would like this to be implemented after agreement through a bipartisan committee.

Despite the views against the notion expressed by PLP Ministers in the House, he said: ?The House of Assembly is an antagonistic and combative arena. Once you look at an issue objectively and what is trying to be achieved when it is not just about one-upmanship then you get a balanced result.?

Of the criticism about the way he voted on Saturday morning he said: ?Collective responsibility means that I have to vote with my party when a decision has been taken and we are under the Whip.?