Senate president suggests review of House rules on absenteeism

Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson has suggested that the rules governing absenteeism in the House of Representatives should be revised to make it easier to sanction lawmakers who fail to attend sittings.

The recommendation comes amid concerns over opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Hugh Graham’s attendance record. Graham, who attended only 14 of 93 sittings reviewed for calendar years 2023 and 2024, received a salary of over $25 million despite his low participation.

Each House sets its own absenteeism rules.

While the House of Representatives requires members to miss six consecutive meetings within a 21-day period without approved leave for a seat to be declared vacant, a senator can lose their seat if they are absent for five consecutive sittings during a period not exceeding 41 days without informing or obtaining permission from the president.

Tavares-Finson suggested a review of the rule.

“I don’t think that they (Lower House) have ever had six [sittings] within three weeks anyway. That would essentially be two [sittings] a week consecutively in order for a person to be barred by virtue of non-attendance. So, it certainly seems to be something in their standing orders that they need to look at,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Both the House and the Senate typically meet once weekly. Although House rules once envisioned more frequent meetings, currently, the House typically meets on Tuesdays, while the Senate sits on Fridays.

Parliament has yet to respond to several Sunday Gleaner questions about the performance of the House of Representatives. Questions have been submitted to House Speaker Juliet Holness on issues such as the work of committees, the status of job descriptions long-promised by Prime Minister Andrew Holness for parliamentarians, and her position on the absenteeism rule.

Graham, the People’s National Party MP for St Catherine North Western and CEO of Paramount Trading Jamaica Ltd, attended only one of at least 37 meetings in 2024, despite earning a basic salary of over $13.7 million for the year. His attendance continued a trend from 2023, when he attended only 13 of 56 sittings, missing 34, according to the records provided by Gordon House.

The average attendance for House members in 2024 was 76 per cent, slightly higher than the 73 per cent in 2023.

The situation is much better in the Senate. There were 27 meetings in calendar year 2023 and, on average, each member attended roughly 90 per cent.

In 2024, there were 22 sittings for the period under review – January 19 to November 29. The average attendance fell to 85 per cent. The data was provided before the year’s final sitting on December 13.

The best attendance records during the period belonged to Sherene Golding Campbell and Abka Fitz-Henley from the government side, and Janice Allen, an opposition member. The three attended all 22 sittings, for a perfect record. There are two vacant government senate seats.

Leader of Government Business in the Senate Kamina Johnson Smith, the country’s foreign minister, attended 13 of the 22 sittings in 2024. Most of her absences were due to official duties. Her opposition counterpart, Peter Bunting, attended 15 of the 22 sittings during the review period.

“The attendance in the Senate is a critical part of the service to the country. Once you accept the position of a senator, then it is expected that you attend and participate. So, I would expect all members [to be present], regardless of their sides,” said Tavares-Finson.

Unlike their colleagues in the House who got massive salary hikes in 2023, senators did not receive an increase in their stipends. In September 2023, then-Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke confirmed that the proposed increase in senate stipends, which would have raised the rate from $53,000 to $148,000 per sitting, would not be implemented. He said there would be no change until a new method for adjustments is finalised.

“It remains,” Tavares-Finson confirmed last week.

editorial@gleanerjm.com