KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Speaker of the Jamaica Parliament, Juliet Holness, says it is “regrettable” that Opposition Leader Mark Golding led a walkout of opposition legislators on Tuesday, insisting that “the business before the House must always be conducted strictly in accordance with the Standing Orders.
“The actions of Speakers are guided solely by the Standing Orders, and Speakers are compelled to act to preserve order, uphold the rules, and maintain the integrity of our proceedings,” she said in a statement issued on Tuesday night.
The Opposition legislators walked out of the Parliament, accusing Holness of preventing them from asking questions of the Water and Environment Minister, Matthew Samuda.
The walkout occurred after Golding sought to intervene and understand why his members were not allowed to ask Samuda questions about the country’s preparation for the approaching tropical storm, which is expected to impact the island in the next 48 hours.
Samuda had earlier made a statement to the House, updating legislators on the passage of Tropical Storm Melissa and the preparations being undertaken by the Andrew Holness government.
Speaking at a news conference following the walkout, Golding told reporters that his microphone was cut off while he raised a procedural submission regarding Holness’ handling of the session.
He described her actions as “improper, irregular, unparliamentary, and thwarting the democracy of the country,” adding “this is unacceptable to us, and we had to absent ourselves from the rest of the proceedings”.
Golding said that in the future, the Opposition would have to adopt different approaches to respond to the Speaker’s actions, as they were elected to represent and defend the interests of the people.
He warned that the Speaker’s actions could be interpreted as silencing the Opposition and hindering its constitutional role of holding the Government accountable.
“This is a thwarting of democracy. It makes a mockery of the Parliament, and it’s an abuse of the powers of the Speaker. We want Jamaica to be aware of the threat to our democracy that is posed when the Parliament’s rules are interpreted and applied in a way that prevents the Opposition from being effective,” he said.
But in her statement, Holness said that the disruption arose during statements by ministers when an opposition member “attempted to introduce a matter that was procedurally improper”.
She said that the question posed was “clearly related to payment to contractors and settlement of invoices and was outside of the allowed questions based on the statement by the Minister”.
Holness said that having assessed the content of the question against the relevant rules, “it was determined out of order as the subject matter was not within the official cognizance of the Minister tasked with responding to the question and therefore breached rules governing the propriety and content of questions presented to the House”.
She said that her ruling was based on the “clear provisions of the Standing Orders” and that following “that clear and justified ruling, both the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of
Opposition Business rose at separate intervals and attempted to make unsolicited statements challenging the ruling and the conduct of the sitting.
“This was especially concerning given that the Leader of Opposition Business had previously approached the bench, where the Speaker suggested we suspend the sitting to discuss a reasonable way forward, and he refused.”
She said that instead of finding an amicable solution, efforts were made to continue the matter publicly in defiance of the ruling.
“It was an apparent attempt to usurp or publicly undermine the authority of the Speaker. Worse, the Leader of the Opposition gave instructions to his members to refrain from asking questions and from furthering the people’s business in protest of the ruling.
“The subsequent walkout by Members of the Opposition was regrettable to say the least, but worse, an affront to the proper order of the house, a breach of parliamentary decorum, and, ultimately, undermined the interest of the people of Jamaica whom we are all elected to serve.”
Holness, the wife of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, said that she remains “committed to following the Standing Orders impartially, firmly, and without fear or favor.
“This is the House of Representatives —it is a chamber for serious, respectful, and disciplined debate in the interest of the people of Jamaica,” Holness added.
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