Speaker of the House of Representatives, Marissa Dalrymple-Phillibert, on Tuesday shut down efforts by the parliamentary Opposition to move a motion to suspend the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Westmoreland, George Wright.

A Government lawmaker, Wright is believed to have been the man who was caught on video savagely beating an unidentified woman in Hanover on April 6.

The video has gone viral on social media, and on Monday the top brass of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) pleaded with Wright to make himself available to the police.

Shortly after the House of Representatives convened on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Business, Anthony Hylton, rose to his feet and indicated that he was about to move a motion for Wright to be suspended.

“Madam Speaker, I rise to give notice of motion to suspend a member of this honourable House,” Hylton began without naming Wright. However, he did not get much further, as he was swiftly cut off by Dalrymple-Phillibert.

“Hmm, to do what?” the speaker questioned.

“To suspend a member of this honourable House in the terms…,” Hylton said before he was again cut off by the speaker, who asked him to “hold a minute”.

By that time, Government members, who were clearly not in support of the motion, had started to raise their voices, prompting Dalrymple-Phillibert to remind them that they were in a parliamentary sitting.

“Allow me to deal with the matter, let us have good behaviour,” she said before proceeding to tell Hylton why she would not allow the motion to be taken.

Before addressing him, Dalrymple-Phillibert made it “abundantly clear” that “if indeed the leader of Opposition business is referring to the video that has been circulating on social media, I want, before making a ruling, to state very clearly that I have seen the video and what I have seen in the video cannot be condoned, whether it be by a Member of Parliament or the man on the street.

“I want to make this country be aware of the fact that domestic violence is not, and will not be tolerated by this Government or this Parliament at any time,” she declared.

But the speaker was adamant that in respect to Hylton’s motion for suspension, she had to be guided by the laws of the land and by the standing orders of the House.

While stating that Parliament is the highest court of the land, Dalrymple-Phillibert argued that Members of Parliament have to be so guided. She said no charges have been laid against Wright by the police, and there has been no formal complaint made against him.

“I watched the video and I watched it several times today (Tuesday), and I cannot recognise definitively, any person in that video…(and) neither the police have identified Wright as being the man in the video,” said the speaker.

A lawyer by training, Dalrymple-Phillibert said if someone (relevant) had been identified and charged, she would allow the motion.

After suggesting to Hylton that if he could give her some further guidance on the matter, he may have been allowed to proceed, Hylton attempted to do so, but was interrupted by Government member, Everald Warmington, who told him it was “not the first time you are being dishonest”.

Hylton had attempted to read from a statement that was issued by JLP General Secretary, Dr Horace Chang on Monday, which urged Wright to “make himself available to the police”.

It appeared to be a matter of semantics, as Hylton had stated that Chang, in the news release, had asked Wright to “turn himself in to the police”.

Rising on a point of order, Warmington declared that “at no stage in the release it said to turn himself in or what have you. It said nothing like that. He’s (Hylton) misleading the House; please be honest.”

Continuing, Warmington said: “I’m not surprised at you being so dishonest anyhow”.

Refusing to be cowed, Hylton read correctly from the statement, which said Wright should make himself available to the police, to protestations from Government members.

An intervention from Opposition Leader Mark Golding failed to sway Dalrymple-Phillibert. Golding told the speaker that she should at least allow the member to “put forward the case as to why he thinks the motion should be allowed…”

Golding was almost shouted down by Government MPs as he told the speaker that “You can’t prejudge the matter without hearing him (Hylton)”.

At that point, Leader of Government Business in the House, Edmund Bartlett, rose on a point of order and urged Hylton to abide by the Speaker’s ruling.

Bartlett declared Hylton’s motion to be “lacking in substance, in fact and in legal validity…” even though he had not been allowed to raise it.

At that point Hylton backed down.