By Vernon Daley, Parliamentary Reporter
ONE OF our failings, as a society, is the inability to spot danger unless it's clear and present. Essentially, we do pretty badly in making connections.
I'm not sure whether it's selfishness or just ignorance, but we seem not to realise that we all have an interest in seeing that justice is done to our fellowman.
An example of this societal failing occurred in the House last week, just prior to the start of the 2003/2004 Budget Debate.
In his opening comments, Speaker, Michael Peart referred to two recent incidents in which two different MPs were 'denied entry' by members of the police force, while making their way to Parliament.
Mr. Peart said that in his interpretation the actions of the police constituted a breach of the parliamentarians' privilege and called for a suitable resolution to address the matter. Soon after, Deputy Leader of the House, Derrick Kellier moved a resolution referring the incidents to the Privileges Committee of the House.
I have no difficulty with the Privileges Committee dealing with this matter. But I think the issue exposes a certain level of hypocrisy and short-sightedness on the part of the governing People's National Party (PNP).
During The Queen's visit to Gordon House last year, the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Andrew Holness was roughed up and charged by a policeman, while trying to get to Parliament. At that time there was no big fuss by the PNP even when Mr. Holness was claiming that his parliamentary privilege had been breached.
The issue only became important because Tourism Minister, Aloun N'dombet Assamba suffered a similar fate while trying to get to the House for the ceremonial opening of Parliament earlier this month.
Now the two matters are to be referred to the Privileges Committee, but one cannot escape the cynical view that this is only being done because a member of the ruling tribe suffered the indignity of being "dissed" by a lowly policeman.
If this matter had been treated seriously when it happened to Mr. Holness a year ago, then quite likely it would not have happened to the Tourism Minister recently. But, as I say, we can't make connections and we seem not to realise that we secure justice for ourselves when we seek justice for others.
THE VIRTUE OF INDEBTEDNESS
One thing I give the PNP credit for and that's their ability to spin even the most hopeless situations. Last week I listened to Finance Minister, Dr. Omar Davies speaking on the subject of the national debt and I almost found myself the helpless victim of masterful spin.
"A mortgage is debt," the Minister said during his Budget presentation, going on to argue that many of the physical infrastructural works that had been done in this country had been accomplished using borrowed money. The Minister was almost bragging that 65 cents out of every dollar we spend go to service our national debt.
I am aware that spinning an issue is part of modern political technology, but we should be careful not to overstep reasonable boundaries. What we want, Dr. Davies, is not more debt, but more growth. When we start earning our way, then there will no longer be a need to saddle the country with a mountain of debt that will fall on the shoulders of our children and our children's children.
KUDOS TO THE SPEAKER
Michael Peart is shaping up to be a first class Speaker of the House of Representatives. He is only six months in the job, but already he seems comfortable in his role. His rulings are authoritative and by the looks of things, he is earning the respect of members on both sides of the aisle.
He has made some controversial rulings but by and large he has exercised good judgement and fairness in the decisions he has made. His sense of humour often lessens the stress and burden associated with deliberations on the weighty matters that come before the House. At the same time, he has governed with a firm hand.
This is a refreshing change from the style of his predecessor, Violet Neilson. Mrs. Neilson, regrettably didn't understand the need to keep the scales balanced and therefore nearly succeeded in bringing the Speaker's Chair into disrepute. But that's history.
One hopes Mr. Peart will continue to be fair in his rulings. That's the only way to secure and maintain the respect of members of the House.
Send comments to: vernon.daley@gleanerjm.com
