The quiet after the storm

Parliament was unusually quiet yesterday. MPs were well- behaved, respectful — almost too nice. And there was meaningful debate on the Amendment to the Kidnapping Bill as MPs Gillian Lucky, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Subhas Panday gave Government blows for poor drafting and raised interesting legal questions on the amendments piloted by Attorney General Glenda Morean. In all of this, there was barely any reference to Monday’s Local Gove-rnment Elections. Save the Healths Minister Colm Imbert’s self-satisfied smile, there was relatively little gloating from Government members in the House of Representatives yesterday as they came face to face with the Opposition MPs for the first time since Monday’s Local Government Elections result. The PNM women — Camille Robinson-Regis, Pennelope Bec-kles and Eulalie James — were decked off in firetruck red, the colour of victory. But it was as if a deliberate decision was taken not to crow on the vanquished. And while there was an air of fulfilment coming from the Government bench, there was  no trumpet-blowing. Deputy Speaker Hedwidge Bereaux, who presided (House Speaker Barry Sinanan having been “unavoidably absent”), set the tone by stating at the start of the sitting that he was going to be enforcing “rigidly” the Standing Orders relating to relevance.

And he did. As Imbert, later enthused that the Opposition seemed to be “bazodee” from Monday, Bereaux, who is a much harder taskmaster than Sinanan, rose promptly to warn the senior politician to leave the “peripheral matters out of the debate.” On the other side, the UNC MPs did not engage in the fiery crosstalk. Even when they tried at moments to hit, as Couva South Kelvin Ramnath did, the barbs lacked their customary sting. His comment, “Yuh rig the election,” didn’t have sharpness. Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar, grudgingly conceded: “Well done!” But when Imbert smiled complacently, she added, with more than a hint of sarcasm: “Not you (Imbert). [Mr] Fridge and stove,” pointing in the direction of  Local Government Minister Jarrette Narine. Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday slipped in around 2 pm and at first engaged in conversation with Winston Dookeran. But as the time wore out, he relaxed and engaged in some good humoured banter with Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Leader of Government Business Ken Valley. For the most part MPs used their energies to debate the legislation at hand. Persad-Bissessar and Lucky argued that the way the amendments were phrased exposed members of the family of kidnap victims who negotiated a ransom with the kidnappers to being charged. Morean, for her part, defended the amendments saying that the language was clear — that the operative words were “a demand” for a ransom, which could only come from a kidnapper, not a family member. Opposition MPs also argued that the Bill did not cater for attempted kidnapping — for those instances where the kidnap victim was able to successfully ward off his kidnapper. The AG said the objective was to zero in on the crime of  kidnapping for a  ransom. Any other offence (such as the attempt to kidnap) was dealt with under the common law, she pointed out. The Opposition was not satisfied with these explanations. But at the end of the day, the Hansard would record that the clauses were unanimously accepted. Despite its objections, the Opposition did not require a division. When Fuad Khan on one occasion called for a division, Imbert stated: “Yuh ain’t find yuh lose enough” and the call was not pursued.