Ean McPherson, assistant to the Speaker of the National Assembly, said that it is about time that
the world moves away from racial slurs and name calling.
McPherson expressed this view during an interview after he issued a complaint to the Ethnic
Relations Commission, (ERC) about the treatment meted out to him on Wednesday night by a
number of Opposition members. “I know for a fact that there is no Commission in place and they
will do some investigations, but that is why I did a hardcopy to ensure that it is there. What I
want is for the world to know that it is time we move away from racial slurs and calling people
names,” he said.
Mc Pherson noted that all of this was derived because he made significant efforts in securing and
protecting the Speaker’s mace after Opposition APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Annette
Ferguson attempted to steal it. The Speaker’s assistant disclosed that in his attempts to protect
the mace, not only was he verbally abused by members of the Opposition, but he was also
physically assaulted. “I held on to the mace and it was fling to the floor… and I overheard people
screaming. “Kick he! Lash He! Drag He! Let’s Throw he over the rail. All I said, was throw me
over the rails because I know when I’m going over the rail, I am going with the mace,” he
explained.
He revealed that despite all of this, he secured the symbolic instrument between his legs and it
was after this that he was physically assaulted. “They throw me on the ground, they kicked me,
they dragged me outside and then Ms. Philidelphia, Member of Parliament start to abuse me with
a series of words like ‘House Salve’, but the one that caught me and I don’t know how I become
a ‘House Negro’. So, I prepared a letter and I dropped it upstairs and I showed my concern about
how I was treated,” he stressed. Mc Pherson in responding to the attention given to him by
members of the public for his efforts, the parliament employee said that he prefers not to be
called a “Hero” as he was only doing his duty. “I don’t want to be called a hero; I am a patriotic
Guyanese. I was basically doing my job as the Assistant to the Speaker,” he declared.
He added, “That protest and members’ unruly behaviour were the Opposition’s way of
attempting to stop the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Bill, however they were
unsuccessful in doing so”. He noted that the mace is the most significant symbol in the National
Assembly and represents the authority of Parliament.
Great content! Keep up the good work!