Proceedings in the House of Assembly were briefly suspended yesterday after Opposition members refused to allow Agriculture Minister and MICAL MP V. Alfred Gray to make his contribution to the Budget debate.

The Free National Movement MPs banged the table as Mr. Gray took to the floor. Eventually, House Speaker Dr. Kendal Major scolded the members and warned them that they would be suspended if their action continued.

He called their action childish and rude.

However, this warning did not stop the Opposition members who continued beating the table preventing Mr. Gray from speaking.

Dr. Major then took to his feet and suspended the House as well as Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis and Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant and St. Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman.

While the House Speaker said that the Opposition members were suspended, under the rules of the House of Assembly the speaker cannot summarily suspend a member of parliament on his own volition.

The House Speaker must first name the member of parliament and if the member of parliament persists with interruption, the House Speaker can ask the sergeant-at-arms to have the member of parliament removed from the House.

The FNM’s protest against Mr. Gray stems from his involvement in a judicial matter back in March.

Mr. Gray has admitted that he called Mayaguana Island Administrator Zepheniah Newbold in reference to a judicial matter involving one of Mr. Gray’s constituents.

It was soon after that call the constituent who had been sentenced to term in prison was released on bail.

While admitting that he called the administrator, Mr. Gray has also maintained that he never ordered the resident be released.

The matter was investigated by police and the Attorney General’s Office and Mr. Gray was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.

However, the FNM has insisted the Mr. Gray, an attorney by profession, should be fired from his ministerial posts.

Moments after being suspended from Monday’s proceedings Dr. Minnis assured that the Opposition will continue demand Mr. Gray’s resignation or termination and he said that he and his colleagues will continue to protest against the MICAL MP in the House of Assembly.

“No politician is above the law,” Dr. Minnis said. “There cannot be one set of laws for the PLP and one set of laws for the common man. This is why we are in the trouble that we are in this country we need everybody to be under the same laws.”

Following the brief suspension, Mr. Gray eventually made his contribution, however, members of the Opposition with the exception of South Abaco MP Edison Key were absent from the chamber.