Novices to rule over proceedings in Senate

A DISQUIETING trend is set to continue in the Senate with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's decision to appoint a pair of novices to rule over proceedings in that chamber.

The prime minister's anointment of two parliamentary neophytes to lead the process in what is expected to be a dynamic dispensation is nothing short of baffling.

Weighty responsibilities will, unquestionably, fall on AJ Nicholson and K.D. Knight, the only two real veteran legislators in the Senate, in light of the appointment of the two beginners to preside over that chamber.

If the Upper House is to retrieve any of its former prestige as Parliament's supreme review chamber, the usually attentive clerk to both Houses of Parliament, Heather Cooke, will have to be on high alert in the coming months.

The Government has already served notice that long-overdue constitutional issues relating to a new governance structure as well as the Caribbean Court of Justice will be high on the parliamentary agenda.

The cerebral acumen, commitment and focus of Stanley Redwood, who has been appointed president of the senate, and the new Deputy President Angela Brown Burke, cannot be questioned.

The mettle of Brown Burke, armed with a higher national profile, is demonstrated frequently in the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation where she is the minority leader.

Redwood, whose political force and influence are better known in rural Jamaica, particularly St Elizabeth, has failed in his bid to enter representational politics on two occasions.

Indeed, both persons are People's National Party (PNP) stalwarts who have contributed to the advancement of their party generally and were reportedly instrumental in the recent successful general-election campaign.

While the antecedents of the two cannot be challenged and their appointment to the government benches would not raise objections, it is an entirely different matter that tenderfoots have been appointed principally to rule on the activities of the Upper House as president and vice-president.

With all the goodwill in the world, neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives can survive with an abject lack of parliamentary experience of those mandated to lead. The appointment of people who are either not interested or new to parliamentary experience by political leaders can be traced to the shabby behaviour of many parliamentarians and the equally ragged rulings from the chair.

Unthinkable offence

Simpson Miller was a member of the House of Representatives when disgruntled members committed the hitherto unthinkable offence, rushing to snatch the mace, which represents the official authority of Parliament - the nation's highest court.

The return of Michael Peart to the speaker's seat in the House of Representatives is welcome. While Peart was generally fair during his tenure in the period leading up to the end of the former PNP administration in 2007, he fell short in not referring to relevant sections of the Standing Order in making his ruling.

However, all too frequently, the effectiveness of two urbane attorneys who subsequently served as Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, Delroy Chuck and Oswald Harding, respectively, was chiselled away as members could be seen frequently standing at the same time (a breach of the Standing Orders) while haranguing each other.

Members of both Houses could be seen standing while the speaker/president addressed the sitting. This act is also in breach of the Standing Orders of Parliament and serves as a display of disrespect to the chair.

Tragically, the prestige of the Senate, has, over the years, been severely diminished by the quality of the persons who have been selected by the leadership of both parties - people who have failed at the polls but succeed in being loyal to the leaders.

Positive side

On the positive side, Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has chosen well with the appointment of Arthur Williams as leader of government business in the Senate.

The soft-spoken Williams is respected by his political rivals as a courteous politician, well suited for the traditionally decorous environment that is the Senate.

Accordingly, the frequent verbal wrangling in the Senate, such as those in which his predecessor, Dorothy Lightbourne and K.D. Knight were involved, should not be repeated.

Not many of the election victims who failed to find a place in the Lower House have found themselves in the Upper House to jostle for public attention when the election comes around again in about five years.

However, two of those who made it, the JLP's Dr Christopher Tufton and Robert Montague, should prove invaluable interventions in the deliberations and debates in the months ahead.

Send comments to columns@gleanerjm.comma or gary.spauding@gleanerjm.com.