Dear Editor,

I am in full agreement with Teddylee Gray’s letter to the editor in the Jamaica Observer entitled ‘A walking blunder?’ in which he expressed disappointment that Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Government members walked out on the Opposition during an important sitting of the House.

Gray is usually a firm supporter of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration, and it was good to see him calling things out for what they are. The walkout was unprecedented and an embarrassment to government members who followed the prime minister.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding said nothing wrong or distasteful when he mentioned the inappropriateness of the spouse of the prime minister, Juliet Holness, being the House Speaker, in light of her recent inactions. In fact, many people are discussing these same issues on social media.

When Juliet Holness was elected Speaker, very few people and civic groups spoke out, despite the glaring conflict of interest. Nowhere else in the world will you find a democracy in which the spouse of a sitting prime minister is also the House Speaker. In other countries people would be outraged at even the suggestion.

This has nothing to do with Juliet Holness’s competence, qualifications, or gender. Those pushing the gender argument need to be educated and more mature in this discourse; people are not so foolish that they will accept this nonsense, and the electorate can see right through it.

Walking out suggests that government members were embarrassed and running out of options. Like a small child they preferred to simply walk away; they didn’t want to hear it. Their arrogance is unbelievable!

Juliet Holness and those who elected her should’ve known from the outset that this was not good for optics and dissuaded her from accepting the position. Now the Speaker is accused of withholding information from Parliament by sitting on reports from the Auditor General and Integrity Commission for months. So much power should not reside in a single household.

Leader of Opposition Business in the House, Phillip Paulwell, was polite enough to accept and welcome her selection, this does not mean the Opposition cannot criticise her performance in the role.

Prime Minister Holness should apologise to all Jamaicans for what was an unprofessional, petty, and immature move in Parliament.

P Chin

Chin_p@yahoo.com