By Kimone Witter
The People's National Party says Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke should apologise to Opposition Leader Mark Golding and all Jamaicans for the racial inference used to describe the Opposition Leader during the closing of the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Dr. Clarke made the comment in response to Mr. Golding's description of supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party while on a political platform last week.
The Opposition walked out of the House after a war words erupted when Member of Parliament for St. Andrew South West Dr. Angela Brown Burke rose on a point of order during which she told member to shut up and allow her to speak.
In a media release Wednesday, Dr. Brown Burke said the Finance Minister's comment was a premeditated act of prejudice and racial discrimination, as he read from a prepared text, thrice referring to Mr. Golding as "Massa Mark", inferring that the Leader of the Opposition is a racist oppressor.
Dr. Brown Burke said Dr. Clarke's words are signalling to Jamaicans that it is acceptable to once again divide the country based on colour.
In a subsequent interview on the Morning Agenda on Power 106 on Wednesday, Dr. Brown Burke maintained that Speaker of the House, Maria Dalrymple Philibert, was operating in a partisan manner during Tuesday's spat.
She said a better way must be found to deal with issues when they arise.
"We have tried to find a way to deal with it, one, without walking out of the Parliament and two, trying at all times to be reasonable in what we do and to respect the Speaker of the House. I don't think that anything has changed in terms of us being committed to respecting the Speaker. But I believe what is clear is that we need to have a different way of actually operating in the Parliament."
Mrs Dalrymple Philibert is to rule on Dr. Brown Burke's outburst at the next sitting of Parliament.
