We Are The People’s Servants — PM Holness Reminds MPs

KINGSTON, Jamaica — While pre­sent­ing him­self as a “hum­ble ser­vant” of the peo­ple, Prime Minister Andrew Holness called on mem­bers of Parliament to recom­mit them­selves to uphold the high­est stan­dards of con­duct in the House. Prime Minister Holness was address­ing Parliament as it recon­vened today with the swear­ing in of sen­a­tors and mem­bers of the Parliament.“Mr Speaker, some­times we for­get that we are on con­stant dis­play,” Holness said. “Accept it or not, we are looked upon and expect­ed to be role mod­els and exam­ples of good pub­lic con­duct. “Every mem­ber of this Parliament must recom­mit them­selves to uphold the high­est stan­dards of con­duct in the House,” he con­tin­ued. “We can be force­ful with­out being offen­sive, we can be inci­sive, with­out being insulting.”
Over the years, rep­re­sen­ta­tives on both sides of the aisle have clashed and dis­played less than appro­pri­ate behav­iour. Prime Minister Holness also remind­ed the Parliamentarians that they are to serve the peo­ple of Jamaica. “The 63 of us elect­ed to this Parliament on 25^th (of) February offered our­selves to our respec­tive con­stituents on Nomination Day. We pre­sent­ed our­selves to them and pledged to serve them,” Holness said. He said the fact that they were being sworn in today is a sig­nal of the people’s con­fi­dence in them as well as the “awe­some respon­si­bil­i­ties” they have entrust­ed them with. “In cam­paign­ing, we crossed bridges, nego­ti­at­ed pud­dles of water, tra­versed steep inclines, and nav­i­gat­ed hilly and rocky ter­rain to meet them and solic­it their sup­port,” he charged. “We are here to serve them, and not the oth­er way around. “We are their ser­vants, not their boss­es,” he con­tin­ued. “We must not let them down.” Holness remind­ed the Parliamentarians that they are account­able to the peo­ple and they must endeav­or to be acces­si­ble to them. “Good rep­re­sen­ta­tion makes bet­ter com­mu­ni­ties. Better com­mu­ni­ties make bet­ter con­stituen­cies. And bet­ter con­stituen­cies make a bet­ter Jamaica,” the prime min­is­ter said.

Simpson Miller promises ‘vibrant’ Opposition.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller today pledged to work with the Government to build Jamaica. “As the Opposition, we have a con­sti­tu­tion­al duty to scru­ti­nise the Government on behalf of the peo­ple,” Simpson Miller said dur­ing her address in Parliament. “We will not fail in per­form­ing that duty. We will be strong; we will be vig­i­lant; we will be firm.” The Opposition leader also said her team will pro­vide “con­struc­tive crit­i­cisms”. “We com­mit to being a vibrant Opposition, hold­ing the Government accon­table at all times,” she said. “However, we will do so in a man­ner that con­tributes to the build­ing of Jamaica.”
She explained that Jamaica can­not be built by the Government alone, or by the Opposition alone. Instead, Jamaica “must be built by us work­ing togeth­er”. “We all have a respon­si­bil­i­ty to oper­ate at the high­est stan­dards of decen­cy, deco­rum and integri­ty, that is the com­mit­ment of the Opposition.” In her address, Simpson Miller jok­ing­ly warned the Government not to get com­fort­able on the side of the aisle that they now sit. After con­grat­u­lat­ing Prime Minister Andrew Holness and his team on their vic­to­ry in the February 25 General Election, Simpson Miller said: “… Let me advise my friend, and all the mem­bers over there, do not get very com­fort­able on that side. “I know that they are usu­al­ly more com­fort­able on this side.” Members of Parliament and sen­a­tors were today sworn in at Gordon House as Parliament recon­vened. http://​www​.jamaicaob​serv​er​.com/​n​e​w​s​/​S​i​m​p​s​o​n​-​M​i​l​l​e​r​-​p​r​o​m​i​ses – vibrant – Opposition