SIMMER DOWN

With tensions in Jamaica’s Parliament escalating this week, a government lecturer is calling for tougher sanctions against lawmakers who breach parliamentary procedures, warning that failure to act could see the House of Representatives degenerate into a “brawl”.

Damion Gordon, a lecturer in the Department of Government at The University of the West Indies, said disciplinary measures must be enforced to send a strong message that misconduct will not be tolerated, particularly in a country with violent undertones where parliamentarians should be setting a higher standard of behaviour.

“We have to think whether or not we need to introduce stricter sanctions for parliamentarians who are guilty of misconduct in the Parliament. We can think about, perhaps, suspension. We can think about financial penalties, if necessary, or other disciplinary measures, but we can’t allow this pattern of behaviour and disrespect in the Parliament to go unchecked.”