By Philip Buda Ladu
The Workers Union at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) has criticized the national police for vamping into the parliamentary premises on Monday in response to a peaceful sit down strike by workers at the National Assembly who were demanding for their incentives.
The Secretary General of the Workers Union at the Parliament Mr. Kennedy Enoka told No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that the police who might have been misinformed of an exaggerated reported strike by workers at the national assembly ramped into the immune parliament with all their ammunitions yet there was no riot.
“The parliament has its own immunity and the parliament is the mother of all laws and the police are not supposed to enter the parliament with their ammunitions, they are supposed to stand outside and monitor the situation, if there is anything that need them to enter then they will intervene,” Enoka said.
“The constitution is very clear about that and the parliamentary conduct of business regulation, even to arrest any member of the parliament here also you need to lift his/her immunity but now people are violating our own constitution and our own laws and that’s a very big mistake we are doing” the MP said.
Mr. Enoka said if they go outside and ask about their public opinions on the act of police, they would conclude that the action of the police means they can even arrest MPs in the parliament without their impunity being lifted.
He however appealed that they hope that the police will review what had happened and correct themselves.
He lamented that even their own police are not educated. “They are supposed to know the rights and the limitations but the police they don’t know and they entered’ he stressed.
“What I want to say is that those who are supposed to be in any organized force and have a link with the people let them be people who are educated so that they will be able to communicate with those who are there but you brought even people who have not gone to school,” he exclaimed.
Enoka emphasized that even if they (parliamentary support staff) are not Members of Parliament the immunity of the Parliament covers everybody inside the National Assembly.
“But we are inside the parliament, and the parliament has its own immunity. That immunity of the parliament it covers everybody who is inside here, whether you are an MP or not an MP but if I am outside, you treat me like anybody,” Enoka reacted to a question on whether they the lawmakers are immune in the assembly.
On the same note the Workers Union at the National Assembly confirmed to No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that the workers have received the incentives that triggered the peaceful downing of their tools as the leaders quickly responded to resolve their grievances though not to the expectation.
Reacting to the incentive’s payment, the Secretary General of the Workers Union at the parliament said their problem was simply resolved although the money given to them wasn’t enough but they are happy that they have sent a message that they are supposed to be treated well.
“You know of course we are not after money, just we want to pass a message across that we are supposed to be also given our demands and our rights, if it is incentives let it be something good, what we want to say is that let our leadership look first to those who are down and later on they can get their portion” he said.
He underscored that in the previous parliament they used pay the incentives on timely basis but with the current difficult economic situation they don’t get it in an easy way, forcing them sometimes to talk and run from here and there.