KINGSTON, Jamaica – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, on Tuesday assured the House of Representatives that Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte “will be well” following her fall in the chamber, last week.  

“I just want to let everybody know that she slipped, she is recuperating, she will be well and, as a Parliament, we wish her a speedy recovery,” the speaker told members after the roll call.

According to Dalrymple-Phillibert, the attorney general made the mistake on a step leading up to her chair and fell. She said Malahoo Forte sustained some injuries, which the attorney general’s doctor has advised will take some time to heal.

She said she also learnt that some members of the public, who watched reports of the accident on the news, may have been misled into believing that she had collapsed or feinted, “as was speculated by some people.

“I want to indicate clearly that she didn’t collapse and she did not faint, as has been reported and speculated by many persons,” she stated.

She said she also gathered that some persons, who also watched the news, may have gained the impression that, as speaker, she did not care but tried to avoid the commotion.

“I indicated to the member who was on the floor at that time (Dr Angela Brown Burke) to proceed with her presentation. I want the public, as well as the members to be assured that I was aware that the attorney general was also trying not to have any commotion at all, and did not want to draw attention to herself on the floor,” the speaker said.

“I also did not think that it was fitting that any member of the media should try to, or to photograph her in this state because I too, like the other ladies, would not want that,” she explained.

The attorney general has since been absent from several engagements, including Tuesday’s sitting, but seemed to have only twisted her ankle when she misstepped while negotiating the speaker’s steps, and fell to the floor.