Hoisted with his own petard!
IN JUNE, MPs fought over George Wright’s seating arrangements like church members or primary school students.
The Speaker, again seemingly suffering from political anxiety, overruled Mark Golding’s appropriate objections and ordered the Opposition to accept him as a minority MP. As usual, MPs, whose sole qualification is the ability to rile up a crowd plied with liquor and curry goat then provide mass transport to the polls on election day, ignored the interests of those whose votes they begged, borrowed, bought, or pilfered to get the work.
In September, comedian Norm McDonald, one of the most beloved Saturday Night Live cast members, died at 61 after privately battling cancer for nine years. His deadpan, laconic delivery of shaggy dog tales was legendary. Normally, I’d depend on professional raconteur ‘Haemorrhoid’ for a contribution, but today, in tribute to the late, great Norm McDonald, I’ll use one of his – told to Conan O’Brien while promoting a comedy tour:
“During the days I’d go into the streets with a sandwich board trying to get people to come out. I was in Denver. Guy says to me, ‘You doing a show here?’ I said, ‘Yeah’.
He says, ‘ Where?’ I said, ‘ The big auditorium’.
He says, ‘How’d you get to play the big auditorium?’ I said, ‘I’ll tell ya, it’s not just me. David Spade will be there and Nick Schwartz too.’
‘My God,’ the fellow said, ‘they’re from the Sandler Movies? They’re fantastic! I’d pay anything to see them. It’s just that I don’t have much money. I’m down on my luck.’
I said, ‘I can get you a ticket, sir.’ He said, ‘That’d be a dream of a lifetime.’
I said, ‘If you think that’s a dream, wait’ll you hear this. Adam Sandler will be there himself.’
‘My God,’ the man said, ‘I’ll bring my wife. Would that be alright?’
I said, ‘Sure. I’ll get you two tickets’. He says, ‘What time’s the show?’ I said, ‘It’s 8 o’clock.’ I said, ‘Also Rob Schneider’s there’.
He said, ‘Eight o clock’s not good. That’s when the news is on.’”
Norm’s story reverberated as I heard George Wright’s contribution to the Constituency Debate as an ‘Independent’ MP although seated among Opposition members. To loud desk thumping by majority MPs, he praised the Government while applauding his constituents for voting JLP in 2020.
“The people of Westmoreland Central have put their hope in the Government of Andrew Holness because they’re tired of empty promises. Let’s not let them down!”
So, like a fan in Denver, George loves the Government but stays seated with the Opposition because of bad timing.
All this nonsense is possible because nobody addresses the fundamentals, namely, Jamaica’s Westminster-contaminated Constitution, which needs radical reform to include direct elections for PM; real separation of powers between Executive/Legislature; MPs’job description and categorisation by reference to political party election endorsement or as ‘independent’; and mandatory by-elections, should endorsement change.
But if politically tribal values and attitude hadn’t infected our Parliament, any Speaker would acknowledge that current constitutional structures don’t refer to political affiliation. Resignation from the JLP doesn’t make an MP ‘independent’ or an Opposition member.
THE CONSTITUTION
Some simple constitutional concepts: 1. There’s no Government in Parliament. Parliament contains MPs. Government authority vests in Cabinet comprising MPs/senators appointed by PM.
2. PM is appointed by the governor general (GG) as the person commanding the SUPPORT (my emphasis) of the majority of MPs.
3. Leader of the Opposition (appointed by GG) is the person who “is best able to command the SUPPORT” of MPs “who do not SUPPORT (again, my emphasis) the Government”.
It’s constitutionally impossible for an MP who publicly declares support for the Government to be a ‘minority’ or ‘Opposition’ member. George Wright, now publicly hoisted with his own petard, should be forced to sit with the majority and watch Adam Sandler perform instead of staying put as an overt mole listening for news.
Peace and love!