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Unruly behaviour and lack of decorum should not be Jamaican characteristics

This was a significant and laudatory speech by the Speaker of the Lower House, one that the entire country should pay attention to.

It should be posted on the walls of Gordon House for all to see, for it speaks to what kind of country does Jamaica aspire to be.

Jamaica is an indisciplined country where the “bad bwoy” culture permeates every facet of life. Decorum and civility are blithely ignored in favour of aggression and self-serving behaviour is the order of the day.

Jamaica wanted independence from its colonial master but after six decades of forging its own destiny, it has made very little progress and remains vastly underdeveloped, with a low literacy rate and a high crime rate.

No country or civilisation can progress if lawlessness, chaos, a refusal to abide by the rules prevail. That is why Juliet Holness’s parliamentary speech was perhaps the best made so far in this new century.

You can’t do whatever you like and damn the consequences. You can’t flout the rules, particularly if you are a leader, someone who should set the example, a representative of citizens – No.

Juliet Holness should be commended not castigated. All the talk about the Mace representing slave masters and has no relevance does not vitiate the issue at hand.

What Angela Brown Burke did is not funny; it is not a joke for our amusement. It was symptomatic of the problem that plagues Jamaica-an inability to follow the rules but wilfully break them. It was conduct unbecoming a former minister and one of the top members of the Opposition party.

Disorder cannot be allowed to run rampant in Jamaica and those who know better should do better. Juliet Holness is absolutely right here. 

What she had to say should be read out aloud in every home, every church, every institution. Jamaicans would be wise to consider what Juliet Holness had to say about the conduct in the House of Representatives on April 28, 2026. Decent law-abiding citizens would have to agree with her. If Jamaica is to move forward and better the lives of its people ,then standards must be upheld. Miscreants should rightfully be admonished.

Well said, Madam Speaker. You are a credit to the House and your country. We stand by your words all the way. 

Below is her full address:

Members,

Before we proceed with the business of the House, I wish to address the events which occurred during last Tuesday’s sitting.

I do so not to prolong controversy, but because some moments require more than silence. They require reflection. They require correction. And they require us, as Members of this Honourable House, to remind ourselves and indeed, the country of the standards by which Parliament must conduct itself.

Last Tuesday, during the Committee stage of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority Bill, the Honourable Member for St. Andrew South Western removed the Mace from its place in this Chamber. The Member was named under the Standing Orders, ordered to withdraw, and the House took a decision in relation to her suspension for the remainder of the sitting. Thereafter, the Leader of the Opposition and other Members of the Opposition engaged in a standing protest and chants, in open defiance of the authority of the Chair and the order of the House.

The record will speak for itself. But I must speak to what the moment means, because what occurred was not simply a breach of order by one Member. It was a wider challenge to the authority of the Chair and to the orderly conduct of the House.

The Mace is not a decoration. It is not a prop. It is not an object to be used in protest. It is the symbol of the authority of this House. It represents the authority under which we meet, debate, disagree, vote and make laws on behalf of the people of Jamaica.

So when the Mace is interfered with, the issue is not simply about an object being moved. The issue is whether the authority of the House itself is to be respected.

That is why this moment cannot be reduced to political theatre. It is not about Government or Opposition. It is about whether this Parliament, which belongs to the Jamaican people, will be allowed to conduct the people’s business with order, dignity and respect.

Members, values and attitudes matter.

Only today, many of us participated in Read Across Jamaica Day. We went into schools, read to children, encouraged them to learn, to listen, to reason, to respect themselves and others, and to become responsible citizens.

What then is the example we set for those same children when they look at the Parliament of their country?

If a student believes that a teacher has been unfair, do we encourage that student to disregard the teacher, disrupt the class, seize what does not belong to them, and refuse to follow instructions? Or do we teach that student that there are proper avenues to raise a concern, challenge a decision, and seek redress?

Of course, members of the House are not regarded as students but the same principle applies here.

A Member may disagree with the Chair. A Member may disagree with a ruling or even believe that a process is unfair. But the answer cannot be disorder, defiance or contempt for the institution.

The Standing Orders itself provide the avenues by which Members may raise objections, seek clarification, challenge procedure, move amendments, divide the House, and place their disagreement on the record. Those rules exist not to silence Members, but to protect every Member, including those in the minority.

Order is not the enemy of democracy. Order is what makes democracy possible.

That is true in this House, and it is true in ordinary life. In any meeting, whether it is a board, a citizens’ association, a church committee, a school body or a community organization, there must be a Chair. There must be an agenda. There must be rules. There must be order. If every person decides that they will only follow the rules when they agree with the Chair, then no meeting can function. No business may be completed. No decision can be trusted.

The same is true in this Chamber, but with far greater consequence.

The rules of this House were not created for the convenience of any one Speaker, any one Government, or any one Opposition. They are part of a long parliamentary tradition, shared across Commonwealth jurisdictions and reflected in the Standing Orders under which we all serve. Members may wish to modernise them. Members may wish to review them. That is their right. But until they are changed by proper process, they bind us all.

Many Parliaments across the Commonwealth, including republics, continue to use a Mace or similar types of symbols to mark the authority of the Legislature. The point is not whether Jamaica is a monarchy or a republic. The point is that every Parliament must have symbols, rules and practices that mark the seriousness of the work being done. To ridicule those symbols while benefiting from the authority they represent is neither principled nor helpful.

I am particularly mindful of the sentiment expressed by some that an indigenous object which reflects and gives expression to our Jamaican identity is desirable. That process however requires constitutional reform and consensus.

But let me hasten to point out, the events of last week are not merely about symbolism. At the centre of our focus should be whether we are prepared to conduct ourselves with discipline and regard for rules. We as a parliament cannot promote indiscipline and misconduct, then require discipline of Jamaicans from all walks of life, including our children.

However, some have sought to turn the issue into one concerning the Mace and our colonial past. Regarding that narrative, I will state briefly. 

The public record will reflect that during the life of the last parliament the Executive arm of the state had moved to adjust the constitutional requirements and arrangements but the required consistence and consensus with the Opposition was not achieved, hence the process has not advanced.

I am of the view that the majority of members of both sides of the house conduct themselves appropriately and with discipline. The majority. However, I note attempts by a few to subject the office of the Speaker of the House to ridicule and to be generally undisciplined. 

In the spirit of proceeding with the business of the House, I have many times in the past to ignored personal disrespect from a few members of the Opposition, including derogatory sotto voce references, slurs and disrespectful posturing.

However, let me clearly indicate today that my resolve to ensure discipline prevails in the House of Representatives is unshaken and will never be deterred. I will not be discouraged by any public sentiment, any public commentary or personal attack from ensuring that a legacy of discipline prevails in the Parliament of Jamaica.

With that being said, let me also say this clearly. This primary focus should not be on the occupant of the Chair. Speakers will come and Speakers will go. Governments will change. Oppositions will change. Members will come and Members will go. But the authority of this House must remain.

When the Chair gives a direction, it is not a personal request. It is a direction issued under the authority of the House. If that authority is disregarded, the institution is weakened. It is repeatedly tested and no consequence follows, and when that is done then disorder becomes normalised.

This was not the first occasion on which conduct of this nature has tested the authority of the Chair by the same member. On or about March 5, 2026 the member rose from her seat, and boisterously declared that “yuh wah mi fi behave like a virago, mi ago behave like a virago”. Restraint was exercised in the hope that the matter would not be repeated. No action was taken. But restraint must never be mistaken for permission. Patience must never be mistaken for weakness. And silence must never be mistaken for acceptance.

The conduct displayed last Tuesday was absolutely unacceptable. It was absolutely unacceptable by the Member, the Leader of the Opposition who lead the stand-up and the opposition. It was unacceptable not because of who occupied the Chair, but because of what the Chair represents. It was unacceptable because it undermined the order of the House, the dignity of parliamentary proceedings, and the respect due to the institution through which the people’s business is conducted.

Members, robust opposition is not only permitted in this Chamber; it is necessary. Debate must be vigorous. Scrutiny must be serious. The minority must be heard. But dissent does not become stronger when it becomes disorderly. It becomes weaker, because it abandons the very rules that protect the right to dissent.

No Member is above those rules. No grievance places a Member above the authority of the House. No political disagreement justifies conduct that teaches the country, and especially our children, that bad behaviour is acceptable once a person believes their cause is right.

That is not the standard. I am asking Members to respect the Chair. Respect the Standing Orders; observed them. Members who disagree with a ruling or a process must use the proper parliamentary avenues available to them. 

To the people of Jamaica, I say: you are entitled to expect better from this House. You are entitled to expect Members to disagree without degrading the institution. You are entitled to expect passion without disorder, protest without contempt, and leadership without spectacle.

The Parliament belongs to you. Its dignity is your dignity. Its authority exists to serve you. And when that authority is treated casually, the injury is not to the Speaker alone. The injury is to the institution and to the people in whose name we sit.

Each of us must therefore decide what example we are setting and what inheritance we are leaving.

We can leave behind a Parliament weakened by disorder, spectacle and disregard for authority. Or we can leave behind a Parliament strengthened by discipline, restraint, respect for the rules and make democracy a possibility for all in the future to come.

I choose the latter. I invite every Member of this House to do the same.