St James MP says two Patois sentences in Parliament were meant to restart culture debate

St James Southern Member of Parliament Nikisha Bertchel, who speaks for the opposition on culture, heritage and the creative economy, has explained why she began a recent sectoral contribution in Jamaican. The Speaker stopped her and ruled the dialect out of order for the sitting. Bertchel said the Standing Orders name English as the language of the House yet, in her reading, they do not spell out a prohibition on Jamaican. She added that, since entering Parliament last October, she has heard Jamaican used in the chamber, though not in the way she used it in her presentation.

She described the choice as a measured act of disruption rather than disrespect. Her first two sentences were in Jamaican, she said, to shock the chamber enough to trigger a wider talk about class, identity and how the country sees itself. She linked the episode to her discomfort, as a younger legislator from rural St James, with ceremonial wording such as prayers that reference the Crown, and to recent unease around the mace. She said she wanted legislators to hold up a mirror to Parliament itself and ask whether current practice matches how they wish to represent Jamaica in 2026.

The Speaker, Bertchel noted, told her she knew better. Bertchel replied that she believed she had a duty to her culture and to voters who want to hear themselves in the nation’s forum. In an exchange about another incident involving the mace and a government member, she had earlier said that without order there is chaos, and that while some rules may merit change, people must follow rules that exist until they are amended.

She stressed that she was never asking for proceedings to run solely in Jamaican. She wants children to master English while also learning to use Jamaican with confidence, saying language bolsters self-belief. On Read Across Jamaica Day she visited schools in her constituency with books by Louise Bennett rather than imported superhero titles, and was struck that many pupils could not recognise staples such as Brer Anancy.

Bertchel said she has already spoken with opposition colleagues on the Standing Orders Committee, which the Speaker chairs, and will raise formally whether the first language may be allowed in the House. She drew a careful parallel with historical figures who defied plantation order, saying she was not comparing herself to them. Looking ahead, she said she would still work within House procedures, including private members’ business if needed, while speaking as naturally as her background allows.

She closed by insisting culture should not be treated as optional window dressing but as something with intrinsic worth and economic potential.