MEMBER of Parliament (MP) for Trelawny Southern, the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, ripped into the MP for St James Southern, the People’s National Party’s Nekiesha Burchell, accusing her of being disrespectful to House Speaker Juliet Holness, and of being part of a “new breed” of disruptive parliamentarians.

Dalrymple-Philibert, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, levelled the accusations on Tuesday during another heated sitting of the House where there was the now familiar stand-off between Holness and some Opposition MPs.

Tuesday’s incident unfolded when Holness refused to accommodate a question from Leader of Opposition Business in the House Phillip Paulwell. The MP for East Kingston and Port Royal later said he wanted to ask why the annual report of the Integrity Commission was not tabled. He repeatedly ignored the speaker’s instructions to take his seat and Opposition MPs, in support of Paulwell, resorted to desk-banging and chants of “We must be heard”, which disrupted the proceedings for an extended period.

Clerk to the Houses of Parliament Colleen Lowe was also interrupted when she tried to make some announcements as the desk-banging and chants continued.

Dalrymple-Philibert gave her dressing down of Burchell when she rose to contribute to the debate on a motion moved by Leader of Government Business Floyd Green for a comprehensive review of the Standing Orders to be undertaken by the House Standing Orders Committee.

“While no Speaker is perfect, the Speaker’s ruling must always be respected,” Dalrymple-Philibert began.

She told the House that in all the years that she had been MP and Speaker, she faced a lot of disagreement “but never has this Parliament, on either side, ever gone into what I have seen, and I make bold to say that this is a new breed of parliamentarians because never before have we had this type of behaviour”.

Reiterating that she has been opposed as Speaker since there are natural differences between the two sides, Dalrymple-Philibert said, “But nobody has behaved in the way that members of this new Parliament have behaved to any Speaker.”

She suggested the opposition faced by Holness stems from the fact that when she was first appointed speaker, the PNP indicated it was uncomfortable with her being in the position since, as the wife of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the independence of the Parliament could be compromised.

Burchell, who was visibly uncomfortable with the reprimand, at one point tried to respond, but was scolded by Dalrymple-Philibert.

Dalrymple-Philibert then zoomed in on Burchell, stating, “I am going to go further, I’m going to make very bold, because many people have said things and many people have gone wrong, many people have gone right.”

After lauding Paulwell for his normally non-combative approach, holding it up as something others should emulate, Dalrymple-Philibert then singled out Burchell.

“The member from Southern St James, I am saying particularly to her, I have never seen anybody behave, to any Speaker, the way she has done.”

“I am calling her out because she’s young, she’s new, she’s female and we have a female Speaker. Never before has anybody been as disrespectful… no other member has behaved the way you have behaved,” said Dalrymple-Philibert.

Burchell, who was visibly uncomfortable with the reprimand, at one point tried to respond but was scolded by Dalrymple-Philibert who quipped, “You should not speak to me across the aisle; I am addressing the Parliament.”

She also responded to another member’s off-mic comments, stating, “I don’t care if you don’t like it because I don’t like being attacked.”

Insisting that she was speaking with no ill will toward Burchell, the former speaker told the first-term MP, “I do not like [it] and I do not believe it is right, and I say it with absolutely no malice.”

Describing her behaviour as being part of “a new trend”, the former speaker said, “For God’s sake stop it.”

When finally given the opportunity to respond, Burchell declined.