THE EDITOR, Madam:
LAST TUESDAY, November 14, I went to Parliament to hear the debate on the report of The Commission of Enquiry into the Forced Removal of the Homeless from the streets of Montego Bay. What I saw instead was embarrassingly asinine 'adults' throwing words at each other across the floor of Gordon House.
The behaviour of the Members of Parliament was disgraceful. They talked throughout the presentations of the Opposition speakers, they heckled and taunted, made snide remarks and in every respect made spectacles of themselves.
By their behaviour they disgraced themselves, and the people who elected them, as well as the honourable House to which they have been elected.
To make matters worse, the gallery was packed with uniformed high school students who behaved impeccably. They sat quietly and tried to listen to the nation's business being conducted. I shudder to think what they learnt from our elected representatives. They would, at least, have learnt that one needs show no respect to what other persons are saying by listening.
They would also have learnt that their Members of Parliament are not interested in the serious issues that make up the nation's business, only in scoring cheap partisan political points.
The MPs' behaviour casts a shameful pall over our House of Parliament and is a slap in the face of the hopes, dreams and aspirations of our founding fathers and indeed the entire nation. I would suggest to the teachers of those well behaved high school students that they encourage their students to use the behaviour of our MPs as an example of how not to behave in Parliament and anywhere else.
I am etc.,
CAROLYN GOMES
E-mail:
rcgomes@cwjamaica.com
Kingston 6
Via Go-Jamaica
