“YOU can’t be wrong and strong, though we’ve seen that before.”

That was the advice given to an irate president of the Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson, on Friday by Opposition Senator Peter Bunting as both men clashed after Bunting told Government senators and Tavares-Finson that they should apologise to Opposition senators in the wake of Friday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court on the Administration’s use of states of emergency (SOEs) to combat rising crime.

The court ruled that the SOEs declared by the Government between 2018 and 2023 were unconstitutional.

Bunting, the Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, made the remarks during his contribution to the debate on the Income Tax Relief (Large Scale Projects and Pioneer Industries) Act 2025, which was piloted by Minister of Industry, Investments and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill. The Act seeks to incentivise large-scale investments of a minimum US$1 billion or $150 billion.

“The Bill we’re debating today is about encouraging investments and incentives for investments. My main point that I want to make is that the greatest incentive for investors and investments is a country that operates under the rule of law and, in particular, a country where the highest law, the constitution, is respected,” Bunting said.

He then tuned to Friday’s ruling of the Constitutional Court that the SOEs, as declared then, were unconstitutional. Specifically, the court found that, “the proclamations made by the governor general between January 2018 and February 2023 by which he declared the SOEs in various and specified communities in Jamaica, were not made for any purpose specified in Section 20 of the constitution”.

Bunting commended those who he said had the courage to bring legal challenges to those “unconstitutional measures brought by that Government”.

The court challenge was brought by People’s National Party (PNP) General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell.

“I want to salute my colleague senators who were pilloried and abused in this chamber in the most vulgar and personal way by our colleagues on the other side for standing up for the rights of the people and standing up for the constitution of this country,” said Bunting.

“You should all be ashamed here today, and if any of you have a little decency, any sense of graciousness, you should stand up and apologise to us today. Don’t leave it any longer — today. Senator Hill, when you get up to close the debate you should apologise,” Bunting encouraged.

“This judgment today has shown that no regime which wishes to bully whether Parliament, or civil servants, or the judiciary will get away with it. No regime will get away with it! This is much more important than the Bill we’re debating here today,” Bunting argued.

Bunting, a former national security minister, then reiterated that the huge reductions in murders seen since last year never occurred during the period of the widespread use of the SOEs. He asserted that the reductions only occurred after the Opposition ceased supporting the extension of the states of emergency and made them pointless.

“The use of it was effectively discontinued. That was the only time that we saw reductions,” he insisted.

Bunting said that up to 2023 there were no reductions in homicides.

“In fact, for the eight years 2016 to 2023, those eight years, every single year more Jamaicans were murdered than in any year under the previous [PNP] regime; 2,300 more Jamaicans were murdered in those eight years than if they had just maintained the average of the previous four years — den dem talk ‘bout SOEs work,” he said.

“The strategies we recommended are what are being followed by the JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force] today — which is responsible [for the reductions in murders],” he claimed.

The Opposition senator then turned his attention to Tavares-Finson, quoting extensively from a statement the Senate president made in 2021 when the Opposition voted against extending the SOEs.

Having told Tavares-Finson that he should apologise for those remarks, the Senate president said, “I just want you to remind me of my words; let me see if I want to apologise. Remind me of them, man, talk mek mi hear. Talk mek mi hear what yuh seh mi seh.”

Bunting, reading from an online news article from November 2021, quoted Tavares-Finson as saying: “Three unelected members of this House have voted against this resolution. No account has been taken of the elected representatives from Hanover, St James, and Westmoreland, all of whom supported states of emergency.”

He also quoted Tavares-Finson as saying that he wanted, “every citizen of Jamaica and those overseas to take stock of the situation where five men voted against a resolution in a scenario where crime was making citizens’ lives a nightmare. This country needs to revisit this provision because it flies in the face of everything sensible”.

Responding, a visibly upset Tavares-Finson, his voice raised, said, “Let mi tell yuh something without fear of hesitation or reservation: I stand by every word I said, every word I said. Because were it not for this Government, were it not for the crime strategy of this Government the crime would be out of hand — and I stand by every word that I said then and I stand by it today.

“If you want to continue, continue,” he added.

At this point Bunting said, “You want to be wrong and strong; we’ve seen that before,” to which Tavares-Finson responded, “The people of Jamaica — those at home and abroad — will judge what I said and history will judge me.”

As he tried to speak, Bunting’s microphone was cut. When it was turned back on he commented, “You can’t suppress the Constitutional Court, you can’t cut off dem mic, so sorry ’bout dat. Whether you like it or not, you going [to] hear bout it.”