Public Works Minister Juan Edghill yesterday denied that he had threatened APNU Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul.
Mahipaul yesterday filed a police report against Edghill, alleging that the minister threatened him following an exchange at the Public Buildings after a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting was aborted earlier in the day.
Mahipaul said he visited the Brickdam Police Station to make an official report after the “threatening language” directed at him by Edghill in the presence of fellow A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarians Juretha Fernandes and Nima Flue-Bess.
According to Mahipaul, Edghill told him he would “deal with” him “at the appropriate time” and that he would “run for cover.”
“No Member of Parliament, public official, or citizen should be subjected to statements that can reasonably be interpreted as threatening or intimidating,” Mahipaul said in a statement.
“Public office demands restraint, respect, and responsible conduct, even in moments of political disagreement”, Mahipaul declared.
He said he had asked the Guyana Police Force to investigate the matter thoroughly and take whatever action is warranted under the law. “No one should be above the law, regardless of the office they hold,” Mahipaul added, noting that he would submit a formal statement and that Fernandes and Flue-Bess, whom he said witnessed the exchange, would also be asked to provide statements.
Mahipaul alleged that the confrontation occurred in the hallway of the Public Buildings shortly after the PAC meeting. “I made it clear to him that I am not afraid of him. I challenged him to act on his words, telling him that if he intends to deal with me, he should do so, and that he would see for himself that I would not run for cover,” Mahipaul said.
Speaking with Kiskadee Watch yesterday, Edghill rejected the suggestion that he had threatened the Opposition parliamentarian, maintaining that his remarks referred to were responding publicly to Mahipaul’s repeated false allegations.
“If telling someone who is continuously abusing you, insulting you and cursing you, ‘I will speak and at the appropriate time I will deal with you and all your lies and you will be running for cover,’ is a threat, because that is what I said, then I don’t know about threatening anybody,” Edghill said.
He insisted that he had told Mahipaul: “I am not speaking now. But I will speak, and at the appropriate time I will deal with you and all of your lies and you will start running for cover.”
“My temperament is not to threaten people. I speak the truth,” Edghill stated, charging that Mahipaul deliberately provoked the confrontation. “I can tell you Mr. Mahipaul rage-baited me on the corridor. That’s what he did. And when I said that to him, I smiled. If there’s a camera and you want to see the truth; when he came up to me, I smiled and I said I will speak at the appropriate time.”
The exchange came just after a contentious PAC meeting that was aborted after APNU members walked out over Edghill’s participation in the committee.
The Opposition parliamentarians objected to the minister’s presence on the grounds that he has been at the centre of mounting public criticism following the MV Barima tragedy, in which dozens of people died after the government-owned vessel capsized while travelling from Georgetown to the North West District.
APNU members argued that Edghill, whose ministry has responsibility for the vessel, should either recuse himself from the committee or be asked to leave.
However, PAC Chairman Vishnu Panday ruled that he had no legal authority under the Standing Orders or the Constitution to compel Edghill’s removal, noting that the minister remains a duly appointed member of the committee.
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