When there have been at least two calls for apologies made in the wake of the recent uproar in Parliament, one by a Nationalist MP over a comment made by an opponent in his regard and the other by the Labour Party over the Deputy Prime Minister's claim that one of its MPs had voted against its motion, it is definitely not out of place to call for another. The third apology should be a collective one, made by all the MPs to the electorate for the way they behaved.
Never mind the details of the incidents, now known to all, what stands out is the extent to which MPs go to put opponents in bad light, with one Labour MP, a whip to boot, even descending to the shallowest level of politics by going personal about the MP who made a mistake in voting. The Labour MP has now had the decency to apologise to the Nationalist MP and the Labour Party leader has made such apology public, a good move.
No apology has been made by the Nationalist Party side yet and it is most doubtful whether all the MPs represented in Parliament will come round to apologise to the electorate for the way they handled a matter that could have easily been settled without much fuss. It was, after all, a genuine mistake that had triggered the whole issue in the first place.
One or two ex-MPs have meanwhile played down the incidents, hinting they were par for the course in parliamentary business and reflected, in a way, a lively parliamentary democracy. Yes, the cut-and-thrust of party politics in and out of Parliament is healthy but in this case the uproar that followed in Parliament, the walkout by Labour MPs and even more so the withdrawal by the PL from a House committee on the strengthening of democracy carried the matter to a pointless extreme.
Most moderate people from both parties are not impressed by their representatives' antics in Parliament. The people's general reaction to what happened in the House was one of disappointment, even calling their behaviour childish.
Taking seven hours just to approve the minutes of a previous sitting is considered scandalous and reflects badly on the House. In no time, some MPs will come out arguing that such incidents are today few and far between and ought not to mar their overall performance in Parliament, pointing out that, together, they often manage to do very good work, as shown by the number of times both parties agree on specific legislation. Even so, people generally are often disenchanted with the way politicians conduct themselves in Parliament.
In the latest incidents, the Labour MPs shot themselves in the foot when, rather than protesting about the way the matter was handled, they chose to play to the gallery by walking out and, even more seriously, deciding not to take part in the parliamentary committee on the strengthening of democracy. It is unbelievable how badly the party tackled the issue just when it was riding the crest of the wave over the convincing manner it was exposing the very serious shortcomings in the award of the contract for the extension of the power station.
The long and short of the story is that, not for the first time, the people's representatives in Parliament have not acted in accordance with the people's expectations. An apology is in order, at least for the time they have wasted.