IT IS becoming painful to watch the sittings of the Senate, especially with the likes of Desmond McKenzie using the country's highest legislative chamber as a playground.
Last Friday was another demonstration of how out-of-league some members of the Senate are and how uncomfortable they become during reasoned, elevated discourse.
McKenzie has demonstrated that he is peerless as a mud-slinger as a senator. The Gavel is at a loss as to how any self-respecting person could turn up in the Upper House with nothing else on his mind except to cast insult. Last week, he further desecrated the Senate through not only continuous annoying sounds in response to K.D. Knight's disrespect, but also his indecorous attack on A.J. Nicholson, whom he called "a sorry excuse for a human being". It is clear that McKenzie could do with a course in personal development and behaviour management.
Distasteful
But it is not just McKenzie. We find it totally distasteful and out of order for Knight, despite being heckled by some government members, to have made his swine innuendo. Knight, who was in the process of arguing for a new Independent Commission of Investigations bill to be tabled, paused, looked to the government side, and hinted that his comments were pearls before swine. While there was nothing unparliamentary about his comment, The Gavel regards it as an unfortunate outburst.
That sort of stinging crosstalk is more common in the House of Representatives - the argumentative boxing ring of members of parliament - but one expects, consistent with tradition, that senators exhibit a greater sense of reason, restraint and bipartisanship.
Colonel Trevor MacMillan, who resigned from the Senate recently, was one person who demonstrated that there was no need for a spat in the Upper House and recognised the importance of elevated discourse. We hope that when Prime Minister Bruce Golding finally names his replacement, it will not be someone who is cut from McKenzie's cloth.
Meanwhile, The Gavel struggles to understand why the Opposition People's National Party walked out after its contribution to the Appropriations Bill. We need not belabour the point that some of the comments from the government side were, at best, nasty. However, The Gavel believes that walking out after debating the bill achieved nothing but physical exercise for the Opposition. On the other hand, the second walkout was understandable because there was no need for the Opposition to sit in chamber and participate in a debate on a bill which it believes was not ready for the vote.
Raging fire
The unfortunate missteps in the Senate last week are not the only matter of concern. The Gavel finds itself caught in this raging fire ignited by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture's selection of National Labour Day projects.
Off the bat, The Gavel wants it to be understood that it makes no allegation of wrongdoing against Minister Olivia Grange. She is one of the parliamentarians who has earned the respect of The Gavel and one who is not known to allow politics to colour her decisions.
In fact, as much as the opposition leader is known as a kisser, Babsy is not far behind. She has also managed to stay away from the 'naughty corner' in Parliament and has not joined the 'bully boys' in heckling the Opposition.
But even as The Gavel gives her the benefit of the doubt, it must join with Prime Minister Bruce Golding in saying, "It nuh look good." Babsy's defence sounds hollow when one notes that the selection of West Portland to host a national Labour Day project last year helped her colleague Daryl Vaz to spruce up his résumé when he returned to the people seeking their vote in March.
Babsy, "you fumbled", as Knight told one of your colleagues in the Senate sometime ago. Please, don't let it happen again.
Email feedback to thegavel@gleanerjm.com.