Opposition Leader Mark Golding completing his Budget speech outside Gordon House - in the vicinity of the former parliamentary building, Headquarters House, on Tuesday
.png)
Donna Scott Mottley, Horace Chang, Olivia Grange, and Mark Golding
The Parliamentary Opposition is contemplating whether to boycott the remainder of the budget debate.
This followed Tuesday's walkout by government members during Opposition Leader Mark Golding's contribution to the Budget Debate.
Opposition Spokesperson on Justice Donna Scott Mottley, who later spoke on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines, said the move by MPs from the Majority side was disrespectful to the people of Jamaica.
The walkout occurred when Mr Golding, towards the end of his presentation, questioned the appropriateness of House Speaker Juliet Holness, wife of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, being in that position.
Questioned on the likelihood of an Opposition boycott arising from that incident, Senator Scott Mottley said it should definitely be considered, "whether we should participate in the rest of the Budget Debate; whether atmosphere and the circumstances are such that the Opposition should sit and listen to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, they having walked out on our leader."
Walkout defence
MPs from the governing JLP, on the other hand, are stoutly defending their decision to walk out of the House.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang, also speaking on Beyond the Headlines, said they had to adopt a strong position to send a clear message to the Opposition Leader, "because his language was inappropriate and deserved a strong response from the government."
Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, the acting Leader of Government business on the day, also took issue with the Opposition Leader's comments on House Speaker Juliet Holness.
Ms Grange, who was marshalling the proceedings from the Government benches, said the Speaker was legitimately elected by all members of the House of Representatives, including the Opposition.
She said the House of Representatives has been brought into disrepute by the statement of the Opposition Leader.
"It is disturbing and hypocritical, that after more than five months (since) her election, the Leader of the Opposition should so spectacularly question the election of this eminently qualified woman," she said.
Ms Grange added that "Like all members of the House who are not ministers, or parliamentary secretaries, she has the right to be considered for the post of Speaker."
Golding's justification
But Mr Golding, elaborating on his concerns outside of Parliament afterwards, said that the Speaker's conduct "has given rise to concerns by her not tabling the reports of the Auditor-General on a timely basis as they arive."
He further charged that there are two performance audit reports, done by the Auditor-General, which were submitted to Parliamemnt in January, "which have not been tabled."
Another issue of "grave concern", according to the Opposition Leader, is the decision of the Speaker that "certain reports of the Integrity Commission must be sent to an oversight committee within Parliament, which is dominated by the government side, and chaired by the government side, before those reports are tabled and made public."
"These are issues of grave concern to me, as somebody who believes in the parliamentary system and democracy, and indeed for many Jamaicans," he asserted in justification for his decision to raise the matter during his presentation in the Budget Debate.
??????
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
