Senate walkouts in protest of disrespect, says gov’t caucus
Published:Friday | December 17, 2021 | 7:19 AM
The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has accused the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) of leading a smear campaign against Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, amid an ongoing impasse between herself and Senator Lambert Brown.
Johnson Smith, who is the leader of government business in the Upper House, has left the chamber on several occasions when Brown, an opposition senator, rose to speak.
She did not respond to The Gleaner’s enquiry into the matter when contacted on Monday, but the JLP has said the senator’s action is a direct protest to Brown’s “consistent displays of disrespectful, discourteous, and unparliamentary conduct”.
The JLP has also accused former Senate President Dr Floyd Morris of engaging in a calculated attack on Johnson Smith after Morris described her action as “childish”.
Morris, in a Gleaner interview earlier this week, said Johnson Smith is likely to embarrass the Government if she continues her protest against Brown.
“This has cemented for us that what we have been observing in the Senate and in some print media, particularly with regard to the leader of government business, is part of a coordinated political strategy,” read a joint statement from the government caucus in the Senate.
“This is also consistent with the lack of effort made by members of the opposition caucus to encourage Senator Brown to desist in behaving in a disrespectful manner.”
On Monday, The Gleaner contacted several government senators, who declined to comment on the matter.
The caucus said Johnson Smith was not the only government senator protesting Brown’s action, noting that others have left the chamber on occasions when Brown presented.
“We are satisfied that our actions finally appear to be resonating with the opposition senators, and hope that they will make an effort to understand the vast chasm that exists between the conduct they are tacitly defending and our understanding that the courtesy of senators to be heard in silence presumes decency,” the caucus said.
The government senators said that the walkouts do not disrupt the business of the Senate.
On Monday, Brown told The Gleaner that Johnson Smith’s protest began after he challenged her claim that former PNP Senator A.J. Nicholson had sent her threatening and harassing emails.
Nicholson has denied that claim.