President of the Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson, is calling for the relevant parties to tone down the rhetoric regarding the perceived animosity between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Juliet Holness, and recently retired Clerk to the Houses of Parliament, Valrie Curtis.

Curtis retired under a cloud on April 6 after serving the Parliament for nearly 30 years. She was reprimanded by the Speaker, ostensibly for not complying with Holness’ directive in terms of how reports from the Auditor General’s Department should be tabled in the Parliament.

Holness has been widely criticised for the letter which was made public, with political commentators stating that the move was unprecedented. On the other hand, the parliamentary opposition has called for both a withdrawal of the letter and an apology from Holness.

According to Tavares-Finson, “there is no lingering animosity between heads of the upper and lower houses of Parliament and Curtis”.

In an audio statement, Tavares-Finson said it was he who initially recommended Curtis for the post of clerk, recommended an extension of her appointment two years beyond the usual retirement age of 65-years old and also recommended her for a national award which she received.

The senate president is calling for a reduction in what he describes as the politicisation of commentary and posturing concerning Curtis and the letter which was sent to her by Holness.

READ: House Clerk Valrie Curtis to retire

He said it was important to note that the clerk of the Houses of Parliament is not designated as a civil servant according to convention or the Constitution of Jamaica.

“It must be noted that the clerk reports to the speaker and president of the senate who the Jamaican Constitution says is the presiding officer who has the discretion of recommending the clerk to the Governor General for appointment,” said Tavares-Finson.

He added that “A letter of reprimand issued to Ms Curtis by the House Speaker represents a situation which happens from time to time in both the private sector and government. The letter is not evidence that there’s any existing or prevailing bitterness or anger towards Ms Curtis”.

Tavares-Finson said he did not recommend a second extension for Ms Curtis because he was of the view that the Houses of Parliament requires expertise which may bring it in line with the era of advanced technology and digitisation.