Opposition and Speaker at loggerheads

Tue, Jun 12. 2012

More than one year ago, May 31, 2011, to be exact, in an Editorial titled “When will it end?”, this paper commented on a conflict then raging between the Parliamentary Opposition and the Speaker of the House of Assembly Hon. Hendrick Alexander. Worried about the effect the public quarrels between the Speaker and the Opposition MPs was having, SEARCHLIGHT wrote: “…In the process, not only is one of our country’s most important institutions and its proceedings in ever greater danger of being brought into disrepute, but there are clear indications that the stand-off is negatively impacting on the conduct of the People’s Business”.{{more}}

We had called then for the restoration of “sanity” to Parliamentary proceedings and for an end to the protracted bickering.

One year later, there has been no progress in this direction. Rather, the situation has worsened to the extent that the Opposition is now contemplating taking legal action against the Speaker, accusing him of bias and unfairness in his dealings with members on the Opposition bench. In particular, the Opposition insists that the Speaker must honour an outstanding commitment to make rulings on matters brought to his attention.

The Opposition is also up in arms about remarks made by the Speaker in an interview with SEARCHLIGHT, which allegedly cast aspersions on the character of Opposition MP for Kingstown Central, Hon. St Claire Leacock. This outspoken Parliamentarian has had several clashes with the Speaker, resulting in his public denunciation of the Speaker as being “…manifestly incompetent, undemocratic in practice and manipulated by the ruling regime in the conduct of the House.”

Obviously stung by these remarks, the Speaker retorted, in the interview mentioned, by referring to the Parliamentary Representative for Central Kingstown as “….a rude and out of place man who is not fit to be a Parliamentarian to represent people anywhere in this country.” He also charged that the Central Kingstown MP “…does not display proper manners”.

With such words on both sides, the situation has deteriorated to the extent where the Opposition, in a letter to the Speaker, copied to the Governor General, the Prime Minister and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, has asked the Speaker “….to step down from office so that a more impartial individual can be elected as Speaker in the interest of our democracy.”

When we commented on the rift one year ago, SEARCHLIGHT opined that there was some merit in the charges of the Opposition. Subsequent events have strengthened this view. It is true that at times the obstructionist behaviour of some members of the Opposition makes life difficult for the Speaker and does no credit to the status and reputation of the House. There are some MPs in particular, the said Central Kingstown MP among them, who seem to be permanently embroiled in controversy.

Yet the Speaker, by virtue of his office, is duty-bound to rise above such bickering. In addition, there have been times when the Speaker, in trying to enforce his authority, seems unsure of the basis of his rulings. It is also fair to say that when dealing with transgressions on the Government side (especially matters relating to the Prime Minister), the Speaker’s attitude is not as firm as when dealing with the excesses on the part of the Opposition.

The Office of the Speaker of the House of Assembly is too important to be dragged into such a situation. The Speaker, while proposed for election by the Government, is nevertheless, once elected, bound to deal with all matters in the performance of his duties with impartiality and to treat the concerns of the Opposition on merit, irrespective of the irksome behaviour of some parliamentarians.

This ongoing situation does our Parliament and politics no good. It is time for it to be resolved and the integrity of the office of the Speaker restored.