LEADER of Opposition Business in the Senate Peter Bunting on Wednesday attempted to use part of his contribution to the debate of the Appropriation Act, 2024 to complete Opposition Leader Mark Golding’s 2024/25 Budget Debate presentation which was cut short last week by a lack of quorum when Government members walked out of
Parliament.

But Bunting was at pains to get through the segment as Deputy President of the Senate Charles Sinclair kept interrupting him at various intervals, insisting that the topic was not relevant to the debate on the Bill. This resulted in a verbal clash between the two.

“Last week, the leader of the Opposition was not allowed to complete his presentation…the Government used its large majority to rob the House of a quorum and tried to rob the leader of the Opposition of an opportunity to complete his presentation…I believe that the Hansard, the official record of parliamentary proceedings should include that section of his presentation…so therefore, I’m going to use some of my time today to complete that section of the Opposition leader’s presentation which he was unable to complete in the House,” Bunting said.

In that incident, which brought an abrupt end to the parliamentary proceedings, Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Government members, angered by Golding’s criticism of Juliet Holness’s selection as House Speaker last September, walked out after taking offence to the comment about his wife.

On Wednesday, Bunting attempted to pick up Golding’s presentation where he had left it, stating that since “this JLP Government came to office in 2016, no less than eight minister have been forced to resign or have otherwise been sanctioned”.

Sinclair stopped Bunting there and told him and all the other senators on both sides of the aisle to contain their speeches “to what is relevant to what is before us”.

“You are now transgressing into an area that is not relevant. Stick to the relevance of what is before us. Confine as is set out in Standing Order 35 (1) to what is the subject under discussion,” said the deputy Senate president.

But Bunting insisted that he started his presentation, saying the budget is a statement of priorities, “and cannot confine ourselves to the numbers because those numbers represent policies. We cannot ignore good governance.”

Sinclair responded: “I’m not going to get into an argument with you. I will tell any member, whether it is on your side or the Government side, that you are going to confine your presentation to what is contained in the Bill before us.”

Bunting, however, would not back down, arguing that the Bill covers every aspect of Government. “It covers the auditor general, it covers the clerk of the House, it covers the Integrity Commission, every crevice and corner of Government.

“I am going to speak on anything that is covered by this Bill…and if you want to muzzle me, yuh going to have to take me out of here. Yuh can shut off the thing [microphone], you can walk out and remove a quorum; do whatever you want, but this is my contribution. I am speaking to this book which covers every aspect of Government,” he said as he held up the thick budget book.

Sinclair then said he would allow Bunting to continue, but that he would “rein him in” where he goes outside Standing Orders 35 (1).

Continuing to read sections of Golding’s unfinished presentation, Bunting said that the move in 2020 to take away the chairmanship of most parliamentary committees from the Opposition has weakened that mechanism of holding the Government to account for this budget.

“The manoeuvres to delay the tabling of reports from the auditor general and the Integrity Commission remain a contentious matter. We had a development on that just yesterday [Tuesday] and really all of those reports concern how the executive is spending this budget — every dollar in this big yellow book. So don’t tell me it is not relevant,” he said.

To this, Sinclair retorted: “I determine what is relevant senator”. “No, you don’t,” Bunting fired back.

“You can’t come and try with that bullying tactic. You don’t determine my contribution. I decide what is relevant,” Bunting said, with Sinclair again insisting that it is he who determines this when he makes a ruling.

“You can try and use that to muzzle me but you’re not preventing me from speaking,” Bunting said.

Turning to the contentious issue of the non-tabling of reports in Parliament, Bunting said it is interesting that the minister of finance “spent a great deal of time in his contributions defending the speaker and her refusal up to yesterday [Tuesday] to table the auditor general’s reports…when these reports were sent back to Parliament and eventually tabled, what do we see? These reports covered two agencies that are within the portfolio of the minister of finance. These reports cover in one case Tax Administration Jamaica, which has been paying rent or lease for the last four years which had run up to $350 million and counting, that was up to last year on a building which they have not yet occupied.

“Perhaps that is why the minister was so defensive, protective of the Speaker who was holding back these reports which clearly…are not flattering to the leadership of the minister of finance,” he said.

Bunting then attempted to bring up the issue of the six Members of Parliament under investigation for illicit enrichment by the Integrity Commission.

He was again stopped by Sinclair who warned him again of the Standing Orders. “Where you are going to go is not an area I am going to facilitate. What you are doing is that you, standing in this Senate, is going to want to cast aspersions in relation to persons who are members of either chamber… Senator Bunting, you’re not going to go down there this morning with me,” he said.

Opposition Senator Floyd Morris could be heard asking “so what are you going to do?”, to which Sinclair responded “you will see.”

Bunting pressed on about the “illicit six”, but Sinclair again stopped him. “Senator Bunting…they (IC) have said they are doing enquiries/investigations. Let that commission do whatever it is that they have to do and if they submit a report and you get the opportunity at that time to discuss that issue…You’re not going to discuss that this morning,” he said

Bunting insisted that he was merely urging the Integrity Commission to complete its investigation and make a report. “That’s not what you were doing. I’ve heard enough of what you said,” Sinclair charged.

Further, the Opposition senator also made mention of the prime minister’s statutory declarations of assets, liabilities and income not being certified and published by the Integrity Commission, for successive years. He called on the IC to make a full report to Parliament on that issue “so that this taint on the integrity of the Government be addressed transparently”.