Parliamentarians flunk punctuality test for 2022
Published:Wednesday | January 4, 2023 | 1:27 AM
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The Upper House has failed the punctuality test for 2022 with every sitting between January and November starting late. Legislators in the Lower House, while recording an overall failing grade for punctuality, fared far better. Of the 68 regular...
The Upper House has failed the punctuality test for 2022 with every sitting between January and November starting late.
Legislators in the Lower House, while recording an overall failing grade for punctuality, fared far better.
Of the 68 regular sittings of the House of Representatives, 48 – or approximately 70.5 per cent – began by 2:05 p.m., within the first five minutes of the scheduled starting time. However, when sticking to the 2 p.m. time for the sitting as dictated by the rules of the House of Representatives, 28 began on time, with a punctuality rating of about 41.1 per cent.
The Standing Orders of the Senate stipulates that the meetings of the Upper House shall commence at 10 a.m.
Of the 27 regular meetings of the Senate in 2022, on July 29, lawmakers started the business of the house at 10:22 a.m., the earliest recorded over the period.
The data, which The Gleaner requested from the Houses of Parliament, showed that the average sitting of the Senate got under way between 10:45 a.m. and 10:55 a.m.
The latest recorded start last year was 11:07 a.m. on June 24, 2022.
January 13, 2022, was cited as the latest starting time for the House of Representatives, when lawmakers started the business of the country on that day at 2:23 p.m.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Marisa Dalrymple Philibert has been consistent in her push to get members of parliament to attend the sittings on time.
On October 12, the Lower House started its sitting, but later discovered that it was in breach of the Standing Orders as a quorum was not reached.
At the time, Dalrymple Philibert warned that she would allow for a five-minute wait for the quorum to be met, failing which she would adjourn the sitting.
At 2:20 p.m., the Kingston Central member of parliament entered the chamber to become the 16th legislator in attendance, which satisfied the requirement mere seconds shy of an adjournment.
The speaker chided her fellow lawmakers for their tardiness.
“I am very disheartened by this type of behaviour… It is a sad day and poor reflection on all of us,” she said.
Added Dalrymple Philibert: “They say sometimes when the press write some things, we get offended, but let me tell you, there is no need for us to get offended on this one because we have said it, time and time again, that this is the highest court of the land and we are elected to represent the people and this is our working time.”