Golding's comments an attack on House Speaker - Clarke

By Kimone Witter    

 

Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke says the Opposition Leader's comments on Tuesday were an attack on the office of the Speaker of the House.

 

During his contribution to the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Opposition Leader Mark Golding raised issues about the government's transparency and accountability to good governance, noting that having the head of Parliament who is the spouse of the head of Government "does not sit well with the tradition that the Speaker must act independently of the government of the day".

 

But Dr. Clarke believes another avenue should have been found to raise the concerns relating to House Speaker Juliet Holness.

 

He also noted that Mr. Golding and other opposition members have been inconsistent on matters of national importance, which calls into question whether they can be trusted. 

 

"Now that the Opposition Leader has a disagreement with the Speaker on matters of law and statute, instead of taking his case to the Jamaican people and arguing his case, what he chooses to do is to indirectly attack her intellect and character by suggesting that her actions and decisions are motivated by something other than her independent thought and reason, and that is low and underhanded," the Finance Minister contended while speaking Wednesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106.

 

 

Chairman of the People's National Party and Member of Parliament Dr. Angela Brown Burke has said the opposition is not calling for Juliet Holness to resign as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 

Dr. Brown Burke said it is tradition that the government selects the Speaker and this is accepted.

 

But she noted that the opposition has the liberty to assess the decision, because of the conundrum in which it has been placed. 

 

Dr. Brown Burke, who was also a guest Wednesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, further stated that the government's stance on Opposition Leader Mark Golding's comments on Tuesday, raises questions about its position on good governance and ethical principles.

 

She said the comments were not an attack on the competencies of Mrs. Holness. 

 

"There are three arms of governments...that underpin the democracy in which we are. To have two arms of that being led by a husband and wife here doesn't look good. As Jamaicans would say, it nuh look good, it nuh smell good," she asserted, adding that any "right-thinking" Jamaican should be able to question this without it being a problem. 

 

She said the opposition is calling for reports from the Auditor General and Integrity Commission to be tabled in the House; an end to opposition members being gagged when rising to speak; a discussion on the alleged 'illicit six' parliamentarians; and an update on Prime Minister Holness' uncertified statutory declarations.