Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter

Left: Placard-bearing supporters of the JLP outside Gordon House yesterday.   Right: Supporters of the PNP led by Sydney Errar. - Photos by Ross Sheil

While the Members of Parliament yesterday debated and belittled each other across the floor of Gordon House during the Opposition's no confidence motion against the Government, the political divide between supporters on the outside mirrored that of those inside.

As usual, supporters were kept apart by police who manned barriers at either end of the block on which Gordon House is located - on Duke Street, downtown Kingston. The People's National Party (PNP) gathered at the bottom of Beeston Street, while the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters gathered on Charles Street.

There were roughly 100 protestors representing the PNP, including a representation from east Kingston, part of the constituency of Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell. JLP Leader Bruce Golding wants Mr. Paulwell to become the second resignation of the Trafigura affair after Colin Campbell, who stood down as Minister of Information and Development after he misled PNP colleagues over the $31 million 'gift' to the party from Dutch oil company Trafigura.

Behind the government

But, PNP supporters were defiantly behind the Government's position. One particularly vocal woman returned single-handedly, more allegations than the JLP was making inside the house. She even accused the JLP leader of breaking the law.

Further up the street, JLP supporters were the equal of their own parliamentary representatives, unrelenting in their questioning over Trafigura.

"Talkin' bout the Trafigura money ... Portia takin' too long too pay it back!" said one middle-aged woman in a JLP T-shirt.

"Bruce Golding going to win the debate!" she added for good measure, before his supporters faded away after the Opposition Leader's reading of the no-confidence motion, which was broadcast from speakers mounted on a car roof.

The fact that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller did not show up at Gordon House until after Mr. Golding's speech, did not seem to deter her supporters. They railed at what they called the "indiscipline" of Mr. Golding's revelations about the Trafigura affair in Parliament two weeks before.