By Vernon Daley, Parliamentary ReporterIT SEEMS there is never a dull moment in Gordon House. One can always find a parliamentarian who is willing to make a fool of himself for the entertainment of his colleagues and those who occupy the galleries.
Last week, Ernie Smith and Sharon Hay-Webster gave many of us quite a good laugh when they made some ridiculous proposals during a debate in the House. Mr. Smith suggested that schoolgirls should be subjected to 'virginity tests' while Mrs. Hay-Webster wants the Government to consider sterilisation of women to deal with unwanted pregnancies.
Heckling from Government parliamentarians, forced an angry Mr. Smith to retort that he could not be blamed for his brilliance. In his conceit, he must have thought that he had found the long-sought cure for unwanted pregnancies and the breakdown of family life. Hello!
Mrs. Hay-Webster marred her otherwise useful presentation to the House, when she suggested that the Government look at introducing tubal ligation for women after their third or fourth child.
There was a fair bit of public anger directed at the MPs and that was quite understandable. These are crazy ideas, which have no place in modern thinking. Population planners, economists and other professionals have long told us that the best contraceptive for women is better education and opportunities. Women who are educated and employed, naturally have less children.
I was under the impression that we had killed the sterilisation argument decades ago and as for the virginity tests, that's a non-starter. Mr. Smith failed to say what we should do with the girls, if we find that they have been 'touched'. Perhaps his brilliance will allow him to develop on that tiny bit of detail.
Apart from their obvious entertainment value, these suggestions merely show the shallowness of thinking among the nation's leaders. They have simply ran out of ideas.
QUESTIONABLE COMPROMISE
It is unfortunate that that these wild ideas grabbed public attention, deflecting the limelight from the more substantive issue which was being debated in the House last week. Of course, that debate dealt with a motion brought by Opposition member, Dr. Ken Baugh, calling for the removal of John Junor as Health Minister over the recent children's homes scandal.
The Opposition and the Government worked out a compromise that will likely result in child care being removed from the portfolio of the Health Minister and placed somewhere else. In return for that, the Opposition dropped its call for the head of Mr. Junor.
I think this shows an Opposition without conviction. It was clear from the debate that Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) members were not convinced that Mr. Junor should go. They called for his removal but the arguments lacked conviction and the compromise reflected that.
The Opposition's climb down represented its own irresolution on the issue of ministerial responsibility. If it felt that Mr. Junor was ultimately responsible for the widespread abuses in these children's homes and places of safety, then it should have pressed its call, even if it meant that the Government would merely use its majority to win the day.
There are issues on which Government and the Opposition can and should compromise but the fundamental issue of ministerial accountability is not one of them.
There are signs in the House that more and more parliamentarians are exerting their independence and are speaking their minds. This is a healthy development, which should be encouraged. There was an example of this last week when Clive Mullings indicated that he could not go along with his party's call for the removal of the Health Minister over the children's homes scandal.
CONSCIENCE
He made it clear, in his contribution to the debate, that his conscience would not allow him to hold the Minister responsible given that the neglect of the nation's children had spanned administrations and was an issue that the society as a whole had failed to address.
Mr. Mullings is a first-time MP and it must have taken immense courage to go up against his party on so crucial an issue. He should be applauded.
While the parliamentary system needs to be overhauled, I have maintained that it would give us much more, if members were willing to exercise independence and be true representatives to their constituents rather than their parties.
It's noticeable that it is the Opposition MPs who have been the ones in the forefront of this culture change. I wonder what is happening to their colleagues on the Government backbench?
Send comments to: vernon.daley@gleanerjm.com
