Personal attacks in Parliament will not be tolerated, the Speaker of the House warned in an impassioned speech in the House of Assembly yesterday morning.

Dennis Lister told MPs he was dismayed by the conduct in the House at the previous sitting when Douglas De Couto, the Shadow Minister of Finance, accused the Government of unduly favouring an investor and companies.

However, he said MPs on both sides needed to handle themselves better when representing the people of Bermuda.

Dr De Couto said last week that Gencom, a Miami-based investment company whose affiliate Westend Proprieties Ltd owns the Fairmont Southampton, had senior government officials “over a barrel” after being granted special provisions.

Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, rose during that session’s motion to adjourn in an emotional address defending the Government.

Mr Hayward said Dr De Couto’s “over a barrel” comment had elicited a “vile thought” and demanded clarity, as well as an apology.

The Speaker last week refused to order Dr De Couto to withdraw the comment, asking parties to meet in private.

Zane DeSilva, the Deputy Premier, then issued a statement on the matter on Tuesday.

At the sitting yesterday, Mr Lister reiterated his comments from the previous Friday, saying they represented a “pivotal moment” and a chance to “turn a new leaf”.

He added: “I want to make it clear that I will not tolerate any attempts to make personal attacks in this chamber any more going forward.

“I will be very quick and stern in how I respond, and if it is not adhered to, the Sergeant-at-Arms will escort the person out. End of story. We do not need personal attacks; we are not here for that.

“I saw it as a pivotal moment where all of us could take a step back, take a breath of fresh air, look in the mirror and say, we will not conduct business like that again in this chamber ever again.”

Speaking to Mr Hayward’s prior comments, he added: “Everyone in this chamber felt the emotion of one of our members who was expressing how he felt to be on the receiving end of what he deemed to be personal comments.

“We are all human. If you are on the receiving end of that, you will have felt what that member felt …

“No one should ever have to feel as the member had to feel last week, on either side of this house.

“Mr Premier, Mr Opposition Leader, I expect you to stand with me on that and I expect you to hold your members accountable.

“As I said to both whips, as managers of the business of the floor for their members, they too will hold their members accountable.”

Mr Lister referred to an article in that day’s edition of The Royal Gazette reporting that Dr De Couto had reached out to Mr Hayward to discuss the matter, but to no avail.

Mr Lister said: “My phone has not stopped since this grew legs. The comments … have all expressed total disgust at the personal attacks that have taken place in the past and the fact that this incident from last week grew the type of legs it grew.

“After the newspaper article this morning, my phone started ringing before I got out of bed.

“We are standing up here to be their voices, to represent their concerns, not to come up here and take personal shots at each other.

“We are not to kill the messenger, we are to deal with the message.”

The Gazette’s story included excerpts from Mr DeSilva’s statement condemning “false, vitriolic, personal attacks on the character and integrity of members of our government”.

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PLP statement.pdf

Mr Lister continued: “The pivotal moment falls on each one of us to look in the mirror and understand that, as we go forward from here, we go forward representing the people who put us here with the voice and tone that they expect us to conduct business in …

“Let’s look at this as a new day, a new leaf, a turning point, a pivotal moment. I expect all of us to appreciate that, that is what the country is calling on us to do.

“They expect us to be responsible, mature and big enough to deal with what is before us which is the business of the country.”

David Burt then requested to address the issue, but was met with a firm “no” from the Speaker.

The Premier went on: “I, too, am dismayed at the article today, but Mr Speaker, in my view, that article was there because the comments were not forced to be withdrawn and therefore they are now in the public domain, and that’s the challenge.”

Mr Lister interjected, accusing the Premier of “taking us back down the road of what I said I’m not going to deal with”.

He added: “I expect you to be bigger than that, Mr Premier, because I know you are a respectable man.

“The members involved have already had a conversation, we’ve talked through. Let’s move forward.”