…Police investigating alleged assault – Harmon
Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, was forced to suspend Wednesday’s parliamentary session following an alleged altercation between Members of Parliament Kwame McCoy and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley.
Reports are that the two Parliamentarians had a confrontation during which it was alleged that McCoy, who is the Minister of Public Affairs within the Office of the President, physically assaulted the Opposition MP.

The APNU+AFC Opposition demanded that the House Speaker address the issue immediately. However, the Speaker indicated that he would deal with the matter when the consideration of the budget estimates they were dealing with at the time in the Committee of Supply was completed and returned to the National Assembly.
This, however, angered the Opposition, causing them to stage a walkout led by Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon.
Sometime after, 18 Opposition MPs returned to the Dome of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) which is being used to hold parliamentary sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and again raised the issue.

Joseph Harmon
This time, Speaker Nadir cited Standing Order 12, which states that they will have to revert to the Assembly from the Committee of Supply, and then, “…the 18 members can stand and will be heard.”
Still dissatisfied, the Opposition MPs started to persistently hit on the desks in the Dome loudly. This resulted in the Speaker suspending the session and later adjourning the day’s proceedings until today.
Denied
Meanwhile, in response to the allegations against him, Minister McCoy “emphatically and completely” denied assaulting MP Sarabo-Halley.
“At no time did I touch Ms. Halley with my phone or any part of my body. At the time in question, outside the Parliament Chamber, I had just completed a verbal exchange with Mr Keith Lowenfield, who attended the Committee of Supply. After Mr Lowenfield’s departure, I began to speak with Minister Anand Persaud. I observed the presence of Ms. Halley, who was approximately four feet away from me. We exchanged words, but there was absolutely no physical contact whatsoever,” McCoy detailed in a statement on Wednesday night.
The Minister went on to say that the allegation is “totally false, malicious, and intended to cause me embarrassment and public ridicule. I am seeking the advice of my attorneys-at-law on the way forward. I urge the Guyana Police Force to fully investigate this matter and institute the necessary charges against Ms. Halley, and I am prepared to prosecute any charges vigorously.”
