LLOYD B MUST GO...And Warmington, Hutchinson must apologise to marshal

THERE ARE three necessary pre-conditions for a return of civility to the business of the House of Representatives. Everald Warmington and J.C. Hutchinson must apologise to Marshal Kevin Williams for the disrespect they showed him, and Lloyd B. Smith must be removed as deputy speaker.

Williams was merely carrying out the instructions of an over exuberant deputy speaker, Lloyd B. Smith, and was not deserving of the insults hurled at him by both oppositon members of parliament.

Even more than the barbs that were traded across the aisle, The Gavel found the attack on Williams most disgraceful. The incident could long follow the marshal and may have even cause irreparable harm to his standing as the strong-arm man of the speaker.

Williams, who is new to the job, has shown an eagerness to demonstrate that he is more than a man who carries the mace. And so, when Smith, out of either arrogance or petulance, wrongly applied the Standing Orders and ordered that Hutchinson, the member for North West St Elizabeth, be removed, the marshall had no choice but to act.

Dark day in parliament

If Warmington and Hutchinson merely return to their seats at the next sitting of the House as if nothing happened, it would be one of the darkest days in parliamentary history. It is our view that no member of the political directorate should seek to abuse or belittle a civil servant for merely carrying out his task.

Should this incident be allowed to die, it would set a dangerous precedent which has the potential to affect the maintenance of order in the Parliament, and may even have far-reaching implications for governance.

In the case of Smith, The Gavel does not make this call because he claims to have wrongfully interpreted the Standing Orders. In fact, his action of sending Williams to remove Hutchinson without due process does not rise to the level of being partisan and thus his ability to be fair is not being called into question.

However, what we question is Smith's ability to be truthful. He has denied, in the public media, giving instructions for Hutchinson to be removed. However, his assertion is borne out to be untruthful by Hansard.

"... Mr HUTCHINSON: The question is coming to it. Just listen. Now Mr Speaker - Mr Minister, my question is that we have been finding out that even with this thing here (Holding up Mr McNeill's Sectoral Presentation Booklet) where we find a colouration coming into this.

(The speaker gavels/Crosstalk)

GOVERNMENT MEMBERS: (Shouting) Sit down, sit down!

(Crosstalk)

GOVERNMENT MEMBERS: (Shouting) Sit down, sit down!

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: (Standing and Gaveling) Mr Hutchinson, sir, Leader of the House.

GOVERNMENT MEMBERS: (Shouting) Sit down, sit down!

(The speaker gavels)

Mr HUTCHINSON: ... we are once again looking at the flag.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: (Gaveling and signaling to the marshall) I will have to [name] him.

Mr HUTCHINSON: And the flag now has black, green and orange. Black, green and orange where we have colouration ....

(The deputy speaker sends the marshal to Mr Hutchinson)

... and that is one of the thing I am asking, Mr Minister, that this does not come into agriculture.

(Crosstalk)

GOVERNMENT MEMBER: Sit!

(Crosstalk)

Mr WARMINGTON: Mr Speaker - Hold on, hold on. Just a minute, Mr Speaker, what you send the Marshal here to do? What are you asking this man to do?"

Mr HUTCHINSON: Wait nuh, hold on.

Mr WARMINGTON: No, no, this is not the colonial system. The marshal cannot speak to him.

Mr HUTCHINSON: No, I'm just asking.

Mr WARMINGTON: Let the Speaker speak to him. You don't interfere with him.

Mr HUTCmNSON: No, no. Wait nuh.

Mr WARMINGTON: Hold on, JC. Just a minute, give me a minute. (To the marshal) You can't speak to him, let the speaker speak to him.

(Crosstalk Laughter)

Mr HUTCHINSON: No, I am still on my feet. No, him not interfering with me I am not listening to him.

(Crosstalk)

MR HUTCHINSON: I am not listening to him, I am not listening to him. Everald, I am not listening to him.

...

MEMBER: Sit!

(Crosstalk)

Mr WARMINGTON: Let him move from behind. He is an elected member here, not the marshal.

(Uproar)

Mr WARMINGTON: You can't put him out.

Mr HUTCHINSON: I am saying also that if you look at this. If it was saying blow ye the trumpet ... (Holding up CD) If it was ring ye the bells ...

MEMBER: Sit!

Mr WARMINGTON: Who you telling to sit down.

(Crosstalk)

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Remove him from there, yes.

Mr HUTCHINSON: ...it would be something different.

(The deputy speaker nods to the marshal and the marshal proceeds as directed).

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am ruling.

Mr WARMINGTON: Just a minute, what are you asking him to do? To put him out? You caan do that (Addressing the marshal), You can't put him out, yuh crazy. marshal, move from here.

Mr CHUCK: (On his feet) What is happening? Why is the marshal there? Why is the marshal there?

Mr WARMINGTON: (To the marshal) Move from here, move from here. The Speaker is to make a ruling. Out of order.

(Uproar)

Move from here, move from here.

(The opposition members get to their feet and exit the Chamber)

MEMBER: Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker, he is out of order, man.

Mr DALLEY: Desmond, there is no need for that.

Mr WARMINGTON: (To the marshal as he exits) (Inaudible comment) Out of Order. Speaker makes that ruling. You don't do that. Damn rude.

Based on the Hansard record, it is clear that Smith is aware of the provision in the Standing Orders for suspending a member from the sitting of the House.

Note the sequence of events: As Hutchinson continued to disobey Smith, Hansard records him as saying "(Gavelling and signalling to the marshall) I will have to [name] him." Under the Standing Order, naming a member is a precondition for having the member, removed. Then he deploys the marshal. This again is consistent with Standing Order 43(4).

Failing to follow due process

In his anxiety to have Order restore to the House, and to have Hutchinson, who he viewed to have been the offending party removed, Smith failed to follow due process by having a minister move the prescribed removal motion. Indeed, Hansard records Smith as having said "Remove him from there, yes." It also notes that "The Deputy Speaker nods to the marshal and the marshal proceeds as directed".

Now, caught with his pants down, Smith is seeking to have us believe that he sent Williams to stand beside Hutchinson so he could get his attention. That is hogwash!

The new bar of accountability in the post-Bruce Golding era requires our political representatives to be truthful at all times. In this regard, The Gavel finds Smith wanting. His position as deputy speaker is untenable.

In the meantime, we are of the view that the rowdy behaviour in the House would not have happened had Portia Simpson Miller been there. We have seen where members on her side have threatened to get boisterous, and like a traffic cop she would so often turn around, hold up her hand and calm would be restored.

Opposition Leader Andrew Holness is yet to command such respect in the House. And in any event, he was not there during the uproar last week.

Full-fledged inferno

The fact that what began as a spark then spread into a full-fledged inferno is a serious indictment on the second-tier leadership on both sides of the House. It raises questions about the respect that Smith is able to command as deputy speaker. We have no doubt it would not have happened had Michael Peart been sitting in the big chair.

Phillip Paulwell, the leader of government business, and Delroy Chuck, the leader of opposition business, must now look themselves in the mirror and ask whether they are doing enough to ensure members of their respective side approach the people's business with the decorum befitting the House.

The Gavel, however, is not suggesting that both leaders seek to make the MPs into choirboys. There is a place for cut and thrust in the Parliament. The barbs must be allowed, but it should be respectful.

National Hero Alexander Bustamante, the country's first prime minister, is said to have declared: "MPs are not doll babies or Sunday schoolboys."

Bustamante was correct. It is unrealistic for the public to believe that MPs will be paragon of virtue in the House. For indeed, they are drawn from our corrupt, immoral society, and they have strong ideological, political and theological views. Often, the expression of these views requires an abundance of passion.

Unfortunately, there appears to have been a dearth, if not the death, of the art of political insults. For instance, Hutchinson, though provoked by newbie Raymond Pryce appeared like a nitwit when he shot the "I am not a fish in here," insult at Pryce.

We believe it is out of order to question the sexuality of any member and for that reason, Hutchinson should face the music.