Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Manchester and People’s National Party (PNP) Vice-President, Mikael Phillips, has lambasted West Portland MP, Daryl Vaz, for supposedly disrespecting Opposition Leader Mark Golding by bringing a censure motion in Parliament over Golding’s ‘dead voters’ comment.
Golding has faced widespread criticism for the comment he made two Sunday’s ago during the PNP’s East Rural St Andrew conference, and he has since “unreservedly” withdrawn the remarks.
A clearly incensed Phillips told PNP supporters at an annual constituency conference in North West Clarendon last Thursday that he was still peeved at Vaz and other Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) MPs for endorsing the censure motion in Parliament.
“My heart heavy because on Tuesday in Parliament we face something that should never happen in the Parliament of this country,” said Phillips.
“… And is one warning mi have to send to the people dem on the other side, ‘Even though I never supported comrade Mark Golding as leader (in the party’s presidential race), don’t mek the mistake, (as) he is my leader, (and) he is our leader’,” declared Phillips.
“I’m a comrade at heart, and I will do everything in my power to protect my leader and my party,” he insisted.
Daryl Vaz
Phillips poured cold water on any suggestion that the party is divided, adding that they love the party and they are going to protect it.
“So when I got up in Parliament on Tuesday, it is because I see a man who should not be in Parliament trying to disrespect my leader!” thundered Phillips in a clear verbal swipe at Vaz.
The PNP vice-president also chastised Prime Minister Andrew Holness for purportedly being in his office at Parliament on Tuesday and doing nothing to demand that order be restored to the proceedings.
Vaz and West St Thomas MP James Robertson, along with other Government MPs, had a verbal spat with Phillips, Golding and other Opposition MPs over the ‘dead voters’ comment that was made by Golding while addressing a meeting of the East Rural St Andrew constituency to introduce Patrick Peterkin as the PNP’s candidate for the next general elections that are constitutionally due in 2025.
Mark Golding
“We have fi mek sure seh every comrade who voted fi the People’s National Party in (East Rural St Andrew in) 2011 and delivered the victory, if they’re still alive, dem haffi guh vote fi Comrade Patrick Peterkin when the election call. And even some who not alive, yuh know, if dem can deal wid it, no problem… because as dem seh a wi name power, power party,” the PNP president said, eliciting laughter among the supporters.
Vaz and Robertson on Tuesday accused Golding of promoting electoral fraud, which led to the parliamentary proceedings being flung into chaos as both sides argued their positions vehemently.
With Golding since retracting the comments, Vaz has publicly stated that he is prepared to withdraw the censure motion when Parliament resumes in September.
But Phillips on Thursday told comrades that he did not trust the words of Vaz, who is also the Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport.
“I don’t trust nuh word of nuh labourite, neither the prime minister (Andrew Holness) nor Daryl Vaz, nor the speaker (of the House of Representatives), nor the deputy speaker,” he declared.
Phillips warned that, “If they come September and try to carry that motion, we have 14 on our side and dem have 49, but our 14 will overcome dem any day!”
A censure is a formal vote of deep disapproval of a member’s conduct that could see such a member being stripped of committee assignments or, in rare instances, being expelled from the House of Representatives.
