Vernon Daley

The first sitting of the new Parliament is scheduled for this Thursday where successful candidates in the recent general election will be sworn in as Members of Parliament. Senators are to be sworn in as well.

Given the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) slender majority, some analysts are already predicting a very robust parliament, marked by sharp and penetrating debates. I hope this comes to pass for it would be greatly beneficial to the people of Jamaica.

The opposition People's National Party (PNP) will have an extremely crucial role to play in keeping the Bruce Golding-led Government on its feet and accountable to the nation. The question is whether the PNP is ready for that role. More specifically, is Portia Simpson Miller ready for the job of Opposition Leader?

No appetite

Without clear and clinical leadership from the Opposition benches, we could easily see the Government being let off the hook on major issues as has happened in the past with lopsided parliaments. My concern is that Mrs. Simpson Miller has never quite shown an appetite for the rough terrain of parliamentary life.

Throughout the time I covered parliamentary matters as a reporter for this newspaper and up to now, I cannot recall the PNP president making any presentation of note. I cannot recall seeing in her eyes a twinkle of delight as she rose to respond to some query or comment from the other side of the aisle.

Under Mrs. Simpson Miller's tenure as Prime Minister, her MPs in the House always seemed to be on the backfoot. Maybe it was simply a sign of the times, but they often looked to have been overrun by the JLP members.

Mr. Golding, through his own parliamentary skill, played a huge role in wearing down her Government and at the same time inspiring confidence in his team to keep their feet on the gas pedal.

The PNP president will have to similarly inspire her team if they are to approach the Government with confidence and a unity of purpose in defending the interests of Jamaicans.

Some commentators have whispered the suggestion that Mrs. Simpson Miller should ask Dr. Peter Phillips to act as the Opposition Leader while she concentrates on working on the ground as party president in rebuilding the organisation.

Donald Buchanan, the party's general secretary, says this is not going to happen and so it makes little sense in carrying the argument much further.

However, it has to be said that Dr. Phillips does seem to be a better fit than Mrs. Simpson Miller for the job of marshalling the troops in the House.

Cabinet and the press

Meanwhile, I am glad to know that the Government has reached an agreement with the Media Association of Jamaica about how information coming out of Cabinet meetings is to be disseminated. We are told that the post-Cabinet press briefing has been shifted from Monday to Tuesday.

It should be a lesson to Mr. Golding, though, that consul-tation is best done before decisions are made. This whole business which threatened to start a fight between Government and the media need not have happened.

The Prime Minister's argument for scrapping the post-Cabinet press briefing on a Monday is that parliamentarians should not have to read about the decisions of the executive in the press.

Mr. Golding makes a good point, but he overlooked the fact that the media are not here to serve themselves. When that information is published, it is the people who will benefit by knowing what decisions were made on their behalf.

While we work to rebuild the integrity of Parliament, it has to be accepted that good governance is ultimately about serving the people, not their representatives.