PARLIAMENT began with business as usual on Tuesday as Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda delivered a statement updating the nation on Tropical Storm Melissa, followed by a response from Opposition spokesman on environment and climate resilience Omar Sewell. However, proceedings quickly turned tense when Member of Parliament (MP) for St Mary South Eastern Christopher Brown was stopped mid-question by House Speaker Juliet Holness — a move that led to heated exchanges and a walkout by Opposition members.

Brown began his contribution by thanking his constituents before attempting to pose a question to the minister, but was immediately interrupted by the Speaker.

“Let me stop that right now. You will have an opportunity, every member in this House, to do your constituency debate and to grandstand,” Holness said firmly. “The statement by the minister is followed by a five-minute response; it is the only response that is made in the House to a statement by minister after which, only questions are taken. And your question needs to be exactly that,” she added.

Despite the reminder, Brown, who was given another chance to ask his question, was again halted by Holness who turned off his microphone, arguing that he was still making a statement rather than posing a question.

After this, Brown was again interrupted by the Speaker who turned off his microphone after determining that he was making a statement rather than asking his question. The MP explained that he was only “pre-empting” the question to provide context for better understanding.

After another warning Brown eventually asked his question, which was about arrangements with the National Works Agency (NWA) to clear roads in his constituency that had been blocked by landslides caused by recent heavy rains. But before he could finish, Government MP for St Catherine South Western Everald Warmington rose on a point of order, declaring that Brown’s question was out of line.

“The question being asked by a member must be related to the statement made by a minister. The minister is not in charge of landslides; you cannot ask him that question. These new members need to know the rules. You cannot go to landslide and road and he is speaking on environment and climate change,” Warmington stated.

Holness upheld the point of order, ruling that the question was not appropriate in relation to Samuda’s statement. She offered Brown another opportunity to rephrase his question so that it would comply with the Standing Orders, but the MP repeated the same query.

Holness then instructed him to take his seat and again turned off his microphone.

The back and forth continued as Opposition members objected, arguing that the Speaker was being overly rigid. Eventually, Holness allowed Brown another chance to ask his question but when he again referred to the NWA she ruled him out of order for a final time.

At that point, Opposition Leader Mark Golding rose to express concern about how the sitting was being managed.

“I am very concerned by the way in which the proceedings is being conducted. We are attempting to ask questions arising from the statement. The statement was a wide-ranging statement; it not only touches and concerns the specific minister’s portfolio, he also said he was speaking on behalf of the minister of local government who is overseas and who has direct responsibility for disaster preparedness,” Golding said.

“On more than one occasion the member on this side sought to ask the question, has been prevented from completing the question, and instead a point of order has been taken which I don’t know what the ruling was or you yourself have intervened to prevent the question from being asked. I want to know what the question was that the member from South East St Mary was seeking to ask; I don’t know what his question is!” he said.

Holness, however, turned off Golding’s microphone mid-sentence as she attempted to address his concern. Golding, visibly displeased, left the chamber, followed by the entire Opposition bench in protest, after which they held a press conference inside the Opposition Members Conference Room where they complained of unfair treatment by the Speaker.

Despite the dramatic walkout Holness continued the sitting as there was still a quorum of Government members present, allowing the proceedings to continue uninterrupted.