Dionne Rose, Parliamentary Reporter
PARCHMENT
NORTH WEST St. Ann MP, Verna Parchment, who only recently crossed the Gordon House floor, held nothing back on Wednesday as she exposed the internal frictions she claimed to have faced while a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Miss Parchment was sharing her experiences in the JLP during her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.
She told the House how happy she was having made the choice to join the Government as she outlined the "intellectual dishonesty" and "disrespect" that was meted out to her as a woman by her former colleagues.
The MP said that, with the departure of former Opposition Leader Edward Seaga, she was a political newcomer lost with no sense of direction.
Stating that she doubted the Opposition's ability to govern the country, she asked: "What could they prepare to do if they ever became Government?"
Government Member Donald Buchanan answered "Nothing!"
"It is still very clear to all those who wish to observe objectively. They are still groping in the dark hoping to find some light at the end of what is a very long dark tunnel," Ms. Parchment said as the Government Members cheered her on.
SOME WITH INTEGRITY
She, however, noted that she did not want to give the wrong impression that all her former colleagues were dishonest. She said there were some with integrity, but they had no voice, or were forced to remain silent, or forced to resigned.
Addressing comments made by JLP General Secretary Karl Samuda and Deputy Leader Derrick Smith, both of whom have said Ms. Parchment's departure was no loss to the party because she was a non-performer, she said that was not true.
She instead reeled off a list of accomplishments, such as the construction of basic schools and new bathroom facilities in her constituency, as evidence of her performance.
Reflecting on her tenure while an MP of the JLP, she said there were some things she had done for which she was ashamed, chief among them being the blocking of roads.
"I have come to realise that disrespect for authority can only lead to anarchy and bad governance," she said to thunderous desk-thumping by Government members.
"I know that my subsequent refusal to participate in such activities has contributed to my being labelled by those on the other side as non-performer," she said to shouts of "Shame! Shame!" aimed at the Opposition from the Government side of the Chamber.
