OPPOSITION Senator Wade Mark accused the PNM of having a premeditated plan to put his UNC colleague Anil Roberts out of the Senate.

Mark made this accusation during his contribution to debate in the Senate on Wednesday, on a motion to approve its Privileges Committee on a complaint against Roberts.

The complaint was based on comments that Roberts made in February on his social media show Douglar Politics, describing himself as a "booming voice"and the Senate as "a kangaroo court." Mark claimed, "They wanted to see him out of this chamber for the next year. They want to see the back of Anil Roberts."

He said the PNM's majority on the committee wanted Roberts to be suspended before Parliament began its mid-year recess, and was scrambling to make that happen.

Mark said Roberts was "dying to come to before the committee, but he said he had a medical problem."

He added, "We (senators) are not medical experts."

Mark also insisted Roberts' actions were not deliberate.

"His mental state at the material time cannot be discounted."

While saying he had better control over his emotions, Mark said, "I could easily be an Anil Roberts."

Mark's question about who was the biggest bully in Trinidad and Tobago prompted a complaint from Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon and Senate Vice-President Nigel De Freitas had so restore order in the chamber.

Mark disagreed that Roberts should apologise to Senate President Christine Kangaloo and the rest of the Senate at his next physical appearance before them. He also suggested that senators be properly educated in the use of social media when reporting on the Senate's activities.

Leader of Government Business Clarence Rambharat said this was no trival social media matter as alleged by Mark, as it was a fact that social media platforms like Facebook rival recognised media broadcast entities from the BBC to TTT. He said Roberts' statements had reached the ears of Guyana's attorney general Anil Nandlall on June 22, and "God knows who else."

Rambharat said social media had been used to attack democratically elected governments and breathe life into third-force political entities to achieve that goal. He said this is demonstrated in an ongoing battle between the Indian government and Twitter, over a new set of online speech rules for India. This, he said, opened the door to the possibility of Twitter and other social media companies being banned outright from operating in India.

Independent Senator Amrita Deonarine said suggestions for Roberts to meet virtually with the committee from his home, owing to medical issues, were ruled out. She said it was Mark who "insisted on the secrecy of the proceedings and all of us agreed to having these meetings in person."

Had a virtual meeting from Roberts' home been agreed to, Deonarine said, "It was uncertain who he would be engaging...who is engaging the member (Roberts)...whether the proceedings are being recorded...streamed live on some social media platform...there was no way we could have guaranteed the integrit