There are real signs that both the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate are determined to make their presence felt henceforth, and put a firm grip on both Houses of Parliament.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Pearnel Charles has stepped up his use of authority to control behaviour during meetings since the House resumed earlier this month.

By now it must be obvious to the Members, as it has been for the press, that he is no longer prepared to allow the crosstalk and shouting that has become increasingly menacing with the close majority in the House, and has been doing a very good job maintaining a high level of discipline and respect across party lines.

However, it seems that it might be a bit more difficult for President of the Senate, Senator Thomas Tavares Finson, as, despite fewer numbers and a tradition of members showing more maturity than those in the House, the Senate seems to be slipping into an era of political divisiveness which conflicts with the perception that the Upper House is much more independent in its thinking.

Senator Tavares-Finson had to intervene on a number of occasions on Friday to prevent the follow-up question and answer period after statements from Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator Ruel Reid, descending into a political “cass cass”, particularly after the intervention of Opposition Senator Lambert Brown.

Senator Brown, whose views are usually lengthy and obviously blinkered by strong political sentiments, has the knack for turning most exchanges into partisan debates which veer away from the subject of the discussions and the essence of the independence ascribed to the Senate.

This sometimes leads to unnecessary political exchanges which not only run counter to that perception, but increasingly fuels responses which causes the debates to stray from the original objectives and end up being a political tracing match.

For example, question and answer periods which followed two statements from Senator Reid last Friday strayed into issues like: Why wasn’t the former Governor General and Minister of Education, Sir Florizel Glasspole, and former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller given credit in the statements for their commitment to education? Why didn’t the minister address what actions he is taking to protect children in schools from crime and violence in places like St James? Whether the minister’s statement on the increase in the subvention per student to the schools since taking office in March as misleading as Brown claimed Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ statement last week was about his Government not proceeding with a logistic hub on the Goat Islands?

“Senator Brown, you jump from the $19,000 in education to Goat Island! We were doing very well, because I think we all realised the need for consultation and consensus. So, don’t take us to Goat Island, I beg you,” Tavares Finson suggested.

“Could it be that you have forgotten the seminal role played by His Excellency Sir Florizel Glasspole in advancing the educational achievements of the nation, that you found no space in your extensive statement to mention his Excellency Floriizel Glasspole? Why the name Portia Simpson Miller was excluded? In your opinion, she played no role in advancing the role of education in our system?” Brown criticised the Minister of Education.

He also felt that that by failing to address the shooting up of a bus in St James by gunmen, in which the bus driver was killed and students injured, was evidence that the minister was displaying a lack of empathy for the victims of the crime.

“I am disappointed that in addressing us on education today…The absence of any mention of this (the violence in St James) in this extensive coverage is a lack of empathy,” Brown claimed.

The latter was a ridiculous remark because the Senate knew that the minister was to deliver two statements on Friday, and while the first statement focused on developments in fulfilling Government’s commitments to removing school fees at the secondary school level, the second statement, which was related to the death of the late St George’s College student Dominic James during a Manning Cup football match recently, was far more suited to discussing security.

Eventually the president’s frustrations took a hold on him, leading to his intervention after the second statement, when Leader of Opposition Business Senator Mark Golding asked Senator Reid whether there would be an enquiry into the death of James.

Senator Tavares Finson felt that raising the issue of an enquiry into James’ death was unnecessary, because Reid’s statement had already pointed to a taskforce being formed by Minister of Culture, Entertainment, Gender and Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange to enquire into the whole issue of the health and security of students involved in sport.

But Senator Golding insisted that it was relevant to look into James’ death as a separate issue and Senator Reid agreed.

*** Incidentally, following the sitting of the Senate on Friday at Gordon House, president of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Steve Golding, presented a petition to Senator Tavares Finson requesting that outgoing US President Barack Obama grant a posthumous presidential pardon to the Marcus Garvey, Jamaica national hero and founder of the UNIA, for his imprisonment on a charge of mail fraud brought against him in connection with stock sales of the Black Star Line.

Garvey began serving his five-year sentence at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in February 1925. However, the sentence was eventually commuted by President Calvin Coolidge and Garvey was released in November 1927 and deported to Jamaica. But the record of his prison term still exists.

*** The House of Representatives will meet on Wednesday (September 28) this week, instead of the usual Tuesday.

Leader of the House, Derrick Smith, has confirmed that this is due to a Cabinet retreat at Jamaica House on Monday and Tuesday.

The schedule released by Gordon House on Friday stated:

Tuesday, September 27, 9:00 am — Constituency Development Fund (CDF);

Wednesday, September 28, 10:00 am — Public Administration & Appropriations Committee; 2:00 pm — Sitting of the House of Representatives.