KINGSTON — Jamaican opposition spokesperson for culture, creative industries and information Nekeisha Burchell was cut off during her maiden parliamentary speech on 12 May in Kingston after she attempted to address the chamber in Jamaican patois. Burchell continued her remarks in standard English after the intervention by the Speaker, who enforced a standing order requiring members to speak only English during debates.

Speaker Juliet Holness warned Burchell during the speech: "If I have to stop you again during your presentation, you will not get any additional time." Holness presided over the debate while wearing a ceremonial robe.

Reflecting afterward on the exchange, Burchell said the episode "really exposed unresolved tensions around language, legitimacy and postcolonial identity." She said her choice to open in Jamaican had been deliberate.

"For me, the question is not whether parliament should have rules. Of course it should. The intention was to disrupt the comfort zone we have found ourselves in," Burchell said.

Sonjah Stanley Niaah, director of the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies, described the English-only rule in parliament as a legacy of enslavement. Members wishing to use Jamaican in the chamber can seek permission to suspend the English-only requirement, and any permanent change to admit the language would require a thoughtful and consultative approach.

Jamaican politicians normally use Jamaican on the campaign trail. A 2005 language attitude survey of Jamaica suggested most Jamaicans recognised Patwa as a language and thought it should be made an official language alongside English. The Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies acted as a language consultant for the Jamaican translation of the New Testament, which is being used in some churches in Jamaica. Parliamentary bodies in Wales and New Zealand allow the use of indigenous languages in their proceedings.