By Lynford Simpson, Staff ReporterANDREW HOLNESS is the country's youngest Member of Parliament and one of the most visible faces on the Opposition benches.
The Member of Parliament for West Central St. Andrew is the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) spokesman on Local Government. Although a first time MP, having defeated Dr. Warren Blake of the governing People's National Party (PNP) in the December 1997 polls under controversial circumstances, Mr. Holness immediately became a household name.
Having first been declared the winner, the Election Court called for a retake of the polls in a cluster of polling divisions where discrepancies took place. Dr. Blake was declared the winner after that poll held in March, 1998. The results were challenged by the JLP which claimed voter irregularities at the polling division at Taylor Basic School. Mr. Holness won the follow-up election and was sworn in as MP.
That he is a well known personality is without question. It is therefore inexcusable that a police officer on duty last Wednesday during a special sitting of Parliament, should prevent him from driving his vehicle to Gordon House on the basis that there was no sticker on his vehicle identifying him as a Member of Parliament. On the contrary, a police officer should do everything in his/her power to assist a MP in getting to Parliament.
That is how it works in Britain whose Westminster model we have copied. According to Erskine May in his book, Parliamentary Practice the 22nd edition: "To facilitate the attendance of Members without interruption, both Houses, at the beginning of each session, give directions in the sessional orders that, during the session of Parliament, the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis shall keep the streets leading to the Houses of Parliament free and open, and that no obstruction shall be permitted to hinder the passage thereto of the Lords or Members. For example, during divisions police officers may assist Members to cross the roads surrounding the Palace of Westminster".
Did a police officer assist Mr. Holness in crossing the street, or accompany him when he abandoned his vehicle at East Queen Street and walked several hundred yards to Gordon House. This, after his driver was not allowed to cross a police barrier?
Anyone who obstructs a lawyer on his/her way to court can be held in contempt of court. With Parliament being the highest court of the land, it is reasonable to conclude that anyone who obstructs MPs on their way to the House, is in contempt of Parliament.
Mr. Holness was merely travelling his regular route to Parliament but was prevented from turning on to Sutton Street from East Street. He was also prevented from turning on to Duke Street off East Queen Street.
MPs like the rest of us are citizens and are certainly not above the law. However, the fact that the MP had to abandon his car and walk to Gordon House speaks to the inability of some police officers to behave in a rational manner. There were other ways of finding out if Mr. Holness was who he said he was without resorting to the confrontational approach that is so typical of the way the local police operate. That is not how you show who is in charge. In my experience as a reporter covering Parliament, MPs are always allowed to drive up to the Parliament building.
A Government MP on his way to the special sitting reportedly encountered similar problems. He reportedly turned around and went home.
That in itself is disturbing. What if the sitting was more than just visiting Heads of State addressing the Parliament on the 40th anniversary of the country's Independence. As it turned out, both the Guyanese and Nigerian Presidents had a lot to say. Just what instructions were the police under?
With a number of sittings of both the House of Representatives and the Senate getting off to late starts recently because of the lack of a quorum, an entire sitting, if it depended on Mr. Holness to make up the numbers, could have been abandoned.
The 60-seat Parliament, as it is, is quite lopsided with the Opposition having only 12 seats. However, what if a vote was being taken on a controversial Bill in a House that is split 32/28? Would the nation's business suffer because of the actions of an overzealous policeman?
