Former Speaker of the House of Assembly Jomo Thomas says that last week’s sitting of parliament became a “poppy show”.
Mr. Thomas, while hosting the VOICES program aired on WE FM on Mondays, expressed dissatisfaction at the nature of the exchanges had between the members of parliament.
The Former Speaker of the House said that with the number of issues facing St. Vincent and the Grenadines the exchanges between members during the sitting is not recommended.
“What we had last week where parliament became a poppy show, parliament became who can shout more than who; who can insult the other more; who can be more braggadocious; who can be more wild in their statements and their actions; who can put as much pressure on the speaker to test the speaker’s will. When we think about the multiplicity of the problems we have in St. Vincent, none of what passed for parliamentary debate last week is recommended, it’s horrible,” the former house speaker said.
Mr. Thomas said that Vincentians must call on parliamentarians to do better and said that the excuse of this happening in parliaments in other countries should not be accepted. He said that SVG’s parliament has become a platform for showmanship for parliamentarians’ supporters.