The Tribune

By ADRIAN GIBSON

ajbahama@hotmail.com

OUR Parliament (more so, the House of Assembly) is rapidly becoming a national embarrassment—one that outsiders could easily misread as being representative of a noisy and unruly democracy. Indeed, the once hallowed halls of the House of Assembly—our elected body—is being used by a handful of petulant and thin-skinned politicians to engage in “girlie” fights and dishonourable petty skirmishes rather than a thorough examination of the issues and truly representing their constituents. The Parliament—that is, both the House of Assembly and the Senate—is supposed to be at the vanguard in its display of best practices (debating, civility, etc) and the standards of behaviour expected of these public office holders should be one above and beyond reproach.

Politics in the Bahamas is a blood sport. Unfortunately, the ruthless, divisive and quarrelsome political tactics employed on the campaign trail has seeped into the House of Assembly, which—over the last decade or so—has featured Members who can rightly be referred to as windbags, political sewer pipes, dim-witted saboteurs and elected officials who—to use the words uttered by a parliamentarian from New Zealand in their Parliament in 1949—have “brains (that) could revolve inside a peanut shell for a thousand years without touching the sides.” Sadly, the House of Assembly is a reflection of us as a people and the rambling and counterproductive yapping sends an undesirable message to our nation’s youth.

Members of Parliament—yes, all of you who are called honourable—you must know that the Bahamian public has lost faith in you (our so-called leaders) and we are tired of the personal politics, tired of the idle vaporising and woeful outpourings of mind-numbing drivel, tired of speeches that lack content and quality, tired of some of you seeking points of order and points of privilege on bizarre grounds and tired of debates degenerating into allegations and aimless blathering. I am tired of certain ineffectual time servers wasting our time whilst our ship of state flounders!

At the rate that the House of Assembly is going, the Members—if not curtailed—will soon come to blows just like MPs in the Ukraine, India, Taiwan and, yes, England!

Whatever happened to the rules of acceptable parliamentary behaviour? When was the last time we had some form of reasoned debate in the House of Assembly as opposed to a crass public relations exercise?

The level of debate in that “honourable place” is a major reason why there is a political disconnect in this country, where Bahamians are hardly informed of the issues and the remarks of Members are hopelessly out of context when contrasted to the issues of vital national importance that should be discussed. Many times, their so-called debates have no relation whatsoever with the concerns of everyday Bahamians. One wonders if today’s parliamentarians realise that so much of the Parliament’s time is lost to unruly behaviour!

Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney described the Canadian Parliament as the “theatre of the absurd” and a stage for “contrived indignation and cheap shots and phony questions and unserious answers.” This description aptly applies to the Bahamian parliamentary experience.

With that in mind, is there any wonder why some of the best and brightest of this generation (and the next) loath and steer clear of entering the political fray?

So, last week, parliamentary discourse sunk to an all-time low when Fort Charlotte MP Andre Rollins—who seems to be on a streak of shameful un-parliamentary behaviour—announced in the House of Assembly (and to the entire nation) that he was “absolutely 100 per cent heterosexual” and accused the FNM leader and MP for Killarney Dr Hubert Minnis of having accused him of “living a lifestyle that I do not live, so that he could use his contacts in the Punch to try and scandalise my name.” Rollins further accused the FNM of “trying to tell parents lies about me, a professional who works with children, to try and scandalize my name, to cause me to lose business.” Dr Minnis later stated, in the House, that he had no interest in Rollins’ sexual preference.

Whilst one believes Rollins’ passionate declaration that he is heterosexual, his catastrophically inappropriate comment and brat-like temper tantrum on the floor of the House of Assembly was a defining moment that cast him as anxiously overreaching in asserting his sexual preference when no other Member that verbalized or openly questioned or made untoward assertions about his sexuality on the day in question. Why did he derail what was shaping up to be a meaningful contribution and make his sexual preference an issue in the House of Assembly? What about discussing the issues confronting his constituency? The people of Fort Charlotte must feel as though we (I’m a constituent) have been had, hoodwinked, bamboozled, lied to and run amok as the expectations that many persons had of Dr Rollins have not been met.

Rollins—furiously looking as if he was passing a gall stone—is evolving into a blowhard MP whose voice at the parliamentary sitting last week was filled with notes of desperation and animus, seemingly anxious and obsessed with scoring a political point over an Opposition leader who he seems to despise. Sadly, rather than quietly focusing on his current job (viz-a-viz Renardo Curry and Arnold Forbes) and resisting the urge to misbehave or make utterances of “jackass proportions” (to use Prime Minister Perry Christie’s words), Andre Rollins is becoming one of the most obnoxiously partisan figures in the House of Assembly. Rollins’ commentary was such an embarrassment to his party (at least two ministers told me so) and was such a disgraceful showstopper that the Speaker scolded him, demanded that he take his seat and adjourned the House. The foolhardy behaviour of Rollins and others (Cleola Hamilton, Loretta Butler-Turner, etc) is enough to test the patience of a congregation of saints!

Loretta Butler-Turner, the FNM’s Deputy Leader and MP for Long Island (my wonderful home town), is a Member whose behaviour has frequently come under the microscope, particularly as Speaker Kendal Major has rightly warned her—on repeated occasions—about her conduct in Parliament. I have been told—by fellow parliamentarians—that Mrs Butler-Turner makes some of the most ridiculous utterances that they have ever heard, mostly while seated.

At no time should any MP become so deeply partisan that they become bitterly angry and are sneeringly dismissive of their colleagues’ parliamentary contributions.

Cleola Hamilton is another MP who needs to get a grip! Last week, I watched in amazement as the political newcomer heckled the Opposition MPs whilst energetically chewing gum in Parliament and fidgeting with her cell phone. Oh grow up!

In a November 23, 2012 Reuters report by Shashank Chouhan on the behaviour of some parliamentarians in India, he wrote:

“Lawmakers in state assemblies have a penchant for picking up microphones, tables and chairs and throwing them at the speaker or their opposing colleagues. In December 2011, Congress lawmakers in the state of Odisha’s assembly nearly flung a chair at the speaker, ironically while protesting the state of law and order. In February 2009, legislators hurled microphones and paper balls at the speaker in Uttar Pradesh state assembly over the murder of a government official. This was déjà vu – the same scenes had occurred in 1997 as well.

“Perhaps the most innovative way of stopping a bill from becoming law happened in the Rajya Sabha, or the upper house of parliament (they call it India’s house of elders). One lawmaker from Bihar, Rajniti Prasad, rose from his seat in the winter session last December, walked up to the minister who was reading from the draft of the much-debated Lokpal anti-corruption bill, snatched the papers in his hands and calmly tore them up,” Chouhan said.

He recalled that: “West Bengal’s outspoken chief minister Mamata Banerjee took her street-style fighting spirit to parliament in 1997 when she threw her shawl at the then Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan for ignoring her state in the annual rail budget. Speaker PA Sangma apparently hollered at her, asking her to apologise or get out of the house, but to no avail. As if that was not enough, she threw her resignation letter at the deputy speaker of Lok Sabha Charanjit Singh Atwal in August 2005 when her adjournment motion was rejected.”

As recent as last year, British parliamentarian Stuart Andrew (Conservative MP) was reportedly seeking to press charges against his colleague Eric Joyce (Labour MP) after Joyce purportedly head-butted and punched him.

Hopefully, our Parliament would not get to the point of physical throw down. That said, the stark irony of lawmakers resorting to behaviour that borders on lawlessness, and making utterances that would be slanderous outside of the hallowed walls of Parliament, is not lost on me.

Overall, I believe that the Speaker can and should ensure an even stricter enforcement of civil decorum in the House. Frankly, we should follow the example set by Australia and seek to impose fines on MPs who display disruptive and unparliamentary behaviour. Moreover, the Speaker should move to suspend those MPs who engage in threatening or reprehensible verbal diatribes, formally condemn and reprimand a Member by addressing that Member by name as opposed to constituency (naming), by ordering the withdrawal of a Member from the House of Assembly for that sitting day, by sanctioning an MP so that they are unable to speak for the duration of a period and/or by allowing the House itself to take disciplinary action against a Member.

Gone are the days of brilliant parliamentarians like Paul Adderley and Sir Orville Turnquest who understood how to use colourful language to make a point, who understood the brilliance in coolly and effectively using the English language!

Rather than wasting time, MPs need to do the work of the Bahamian people and, as the one year mark of the first sitting of the new Parliament approaches, seek to disclose their finances and investments as is annually required by law. Parliament is not the setting for anyone to behave like a flu-ridden orang-utan in a china shop. Mr Speaker—as long as you’re fair—continue to use your extensive parliamentary powers to enforce the rules of debate and best parliamentary practices, so that there can be an orderly conduct of the people’s business!

RANDY FRASER NOMINATED AND RE-ELECTED AS PASTOR!

Upon hearing that the church congregation of Pilgrim Baptist Temple voted to retain Bishop Earl Randolph Fraser as their pastor, my first reaction was: “What the hell is this?!”

What was more perplexing, beyond the fact that the church overwhelmingly voted to retain a convicted sexual predator, is the realisation that this man—even upon conviction—has never publicly admitted wrong, never publicly sought forgiveness and has, by his own admission, desecrated holy ground by “juicing” in the church’s offices.

The Court of Appeal, in summarising its outlook on Fraser during his appeal (which was denied), stated:

“The unassailable facts reveal the appellant as a sexual predator under the guise of a man of the cloth and counsellor, who had abandoned all of his obligations and responsibilities, particularly his commitment to uphold the teachings of Christ himself who commanded: ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me.’ In doing so, the appellant obnoxiously betrayed this young, vulnerable and emotionally fragile complainant who was entrusted to his care for emotional and spiritual healing; disgustingly defiled the sanctum of his church; besmirched the good name of men and women of the cloth who daily perform their Christian duties with diligence and integrity, and has brought shame and odium to his church, his wife and indeed, his community. This was a contemptible act and deserves the severest condemnation.”

Could it be that we, the people, are collectively losing some of our minds and going to hell in a hand basket when a congregation seemingly loses all principles/credibility and votes to retain the pastoral services of a man convicted of having sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old child who was entrusted to his care? Have we gone mad?

What’s more, the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC)—primarily comprised of Baptist churches—has chosen to adopt the American constitution as its own and plead the Fifth Amendment! Mums the word, mums the word!

There has been no formal condemnation from this group of societal leaders (BCC), no reasoned response to this wayward decision made by the parishioners of the Pilgrim Baptist Temple whilst Fraser is currently serving a three year sentence. At the very least, the congregation could’ve waited until he was released, had once again recommitted himself to dutifully serving in “the vineyard of the Lord” and had demonstrated—for some time—that he was a new man.

Kudos to you Bishop Simeon Hall for being honest enough to stand for truth and righteousness! Church politics, on the face of it, seems even more convoluted than national –real – politicking.