The Jamaican Parliament is now displaying the same type of wrongdoing that is prevalent in the society, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Delroy Chuck argued on Thursday.

Chuck made the comment during a commissioning service for justices of the peace (JPs) at Lighthouse Assembly at Garbally Drive in Spanish Town, St Catherine. He pointed to the rowdy behaviour of Members of Parliament (MPs) at end of the sitting of the House of Representatives on November 3 when expletives were used and two members had to be physically separated.

“My hope over the next few years is to get mediation to reduce the number of cases coming to the courts, and they should mediate before they litigate,” Chuck told the new class of JPs.

“The rest of my presentation will be on how do we
— everyone, all Jamaicans, yourself
— assist in reducing the wrongdoings of all kinds across Jamaica. We have to start with Parliament,” said Chuck.

Regarding the legislature, the justice minister insisted that, “The rules must be obeyed.” He then referenced the incident that unfolded on November 3 when Opposition MP Mikael Phillips used expletives as he moved towards West Kingston MP and Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie and had to be physically restrained by his colleagues.

While Speaker of the House Juliet Holness’s handling of the sitting has been criticised by the Opposition, Chuck defended her.

During the sitting, the Opposition objected to the Speaker’s handling of the debate on a censure motion moved against the Government by St Andrew Western MP Anthony Hylton.

Hylton had accused the Government of misleading the Parliament a week earlier when the House debated and approved a motion calling for the removal of the United States’ more than six-decades-long economic embargo against Cuba. The motion received the usual bipartisan support, but the next morning Jamaica was among 30 countries that abstained from the vote at the United Nations. The Government has since faced backlash over its decision.

Things quickly deteriorated during the sitting when the Opposition objected to the way Leader of Government Business Floyd Green moved to close the debate. A stand-off ensued, the House eventually adjourned, and the aisle was quickly filled with MPs from both sides.

According to Chuck, loitering in the aisle is unparliamentary behaviour.

“When the Speaker enters Parliament, no one should be in the aisle, and when the Speaker [is leaving] Parliament, no one should be in the aisle,” he said.

“So anyone who was in the aisle last week Tuesday has a duty to apologise to the Speaker for being in the aisle,” said Chuck who insisted that the fracas that took place, albeit after the Speaker had left, “cannot go like that”.

“Parliament has to apologise to the country for what took place. We’re not going to restore the level of respect from the country if we don’t deal with what took place in Parliament last [week] Tuesday,” the justice minister added. He committed to calling on the Speaker and the Parliament [because] “something has to be done” as the incident was viewed right across the country.

Pending an apology, Chuck has thrown his support fully behind the embattled Speaker. He told the gathering that in Jamaica’s parliamentary system of government, “the Speaker is the law and her ruling is final, regardless of whether any member disagrees with it”.

Noting that he has served in both Government and Opposition, Chuck said, “Once the Speaker rules, that’s the end of the matter. You don’t question the Speaker’s ruling.”

He pointed out that members “can go outside and quarrel as much as you like”, but “inside the House, you respect the Speaker’s ruling and any disrespect should be open to censure”.

The justice minister, while lamenting that wrongdoing was being normalised across Jamaica, pointed out that for hundreds of years, the rules and conventions of the parliamentary system dictate that once the Speaker stands, everyone must be quiet. “And if she rules, you conform with the ruling. Unless we conform like that, we’re in trouble.”