It appears that Dr Peter Phillips is naked without a leadership position in the People's National Party (PNP), so much so that he has exposed his party to a fresh round of heckling in the House of Representatives.

For two consecutive sittings of the House, Phillips, a back bencher, has spoken out of turn and the government side is loving it.

Two weeks ago Phillips, who was relegated to the back bench after Portia Simpson Miller whipped him in an internal presidential election last September, set himself up for a severe barb from Prime Minister Bruce Golding when he questioned him on the issue of bauxite.

The Opposition spokesman Michael Peart had just met with Golding as part of the bauxite taskforce and was in a position to respond to the questions Phillips asked.

However, having sat on the back bench for so long, Phillips appears to have become desperate to remain relevant in Jamaican politics. So, when he asked the prime minister about the state of bauxite and whether the Government might be prepared to take over the sector to prevent a complete collapse, the response he got was not surprising.

Internal communication

Golding told Phillips that the Opposition may want to consider its internal communication on the issue as it is a matter on which Peart was fully apprised.

In the end, the prime minister answered the questions posed by Phillips and in the process made a big faux pas by overstating the redundancy payment by Alpart to workers by nearly US$100 million.

But that untimely intervention was not enough from Phillips. He returned to the House last week and seemingly did not remember that he was no longer the House whip.

So when House Speaker Delroy Chuck announced last week that the clerk of the House of Parliament, Heather Cooke, was ill, Phillips broke convention by not allowing the leader of his side to speak on the issue. He rightfully, but out of turn, said that it would be appropriate for the Parliament to convey its best wishes to Cooke.

Again this was fuel for the Government, including Golding, who all reminded him that he was no longer the Opposition whip.

Perhaps Phillips would argue that no one else was thinking about the House conveying that sentiment and that's why he did. If that is so, it is an indictment on Derrick Kellier, the Opposition House leader and new House leader Andrew Holness.

That said, however, there appears to be something motivating Phillips to speak ever so often in Parliament, since his second defeat to Simpson Miller and his ultimate relegation to the back bench.

It could be that he is either uncomfortable or unimpressed by the frequency and substance of Simpson Miller's interventions.

It could also be the case that he now takes the job of back bencher seriously and, like Ronald Thwaites, is ready and prepared to speak on any issue since he is not shackled with a shadow portfolio responsibility.

A third challenge

And yet, Phillips' frequent interventions could be a signal that he has his eyes on a third challenge for the presidency of the PNP.

He has already started a think tank, Roxborough Institute, named after the birthplace of People's National Party founder Norman Manley.

Perhaps all of this is work in train for a run for one of four vice-presidential positions in the PNP and later the top position.

We are not suggesting that Phillips should remain silent in the House. The Gavel has just found it rather odd for him to suddenly start over-extending himself in the House again.

On another, totally unconnected matter, it was really refreshing to see South East St Elizabeth Member of Parliament Franklyn Witter stay back in the House after the estimates of expenditure were tabled last Tuesday, to peruse the document by himself.

For those of us who have monitored Parliament, Witter looked to be out of his league in the House. He rarely speaks, and always seems puzzled, which is often reflected by the way he slouches pitifully in his seat on the Government back bench.

positive action

He has scored a few points on The Gavel's chart now by his positive action on Tuesday.

We do hope Witter and all other MPs have gone through the document page by page, line by line, and are ready for the standing finance committee this week.

We also sincerely hope that the ministers will be prepared for the committee when they answer questions on how the scare tax and borrowed dollars earmarked in this year's budget will be spent. Some members were disgracefully unaware and naive last year and we hope not to see a repeat. The times are too serious to procrastinate.

thegavel@gleanerjm.com