Suspend or expel uncouth politicians - Letters

Letters

Suspend or expel uncouth politicians

Friday, July 06, 2012

Dear Editor,

The disgraceful behaviour in the House of Representatives on July 3 has forced me to write to you. I think that the time has come for the Broadcasting Commission to rate whatever is coming out of our Parliament and is being aired in prime time on television as to whether or not it is suitable for children's viewing.

We have often seen acts of intimidation and quarrels coming from our Parliament, some of which could be libellous, had it not been for the law which prohibits legal action from being taken once the action takes place in the House.

I would be more than peeved if my young daughter, who always asks questions, was watching the news and inquired of me what was happening. I would have a lot of explaining to do. To make matters worse, she has told us that her teacher advised her class to watch television news in the evening.

Is this what we want our children to see and imbibe? How long are we going to sit down and watch our elected officials behaving in this disgraceful and unacceptable manner?

I am disappointed and I know that Jamaicans in the diaspora must be too. We are in a global village and whatever happens here is seen all over the world. I know that many Jamaicans are very patriotic and defend our beloved country with every fibre of their being.

I know that these recent events will somehow dampen their enthusiasm. It's time for us to have the guts to say enough is enough and let our members of parliament know that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour. After all, we taxpayers are paying them.

If this is not going far enough, there should be a law to have them suspended or expelled from Parliament and they should be made to apologise to their constituencies and to the entire nation.

Derrick Scott

rickhony@yahoo.com