KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition Senate Leader Peter Bunting was told to control himself after he unleashed insults in the upper house on Friday, calling Senator Charles Sinclair “a dunce and an idiot” and telling him to shut up.

The exchange occurred as a fuming Bunting lashed out at Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson’s decision to discontinue Senator Lambert Brown’s presentation. Tavares-Finson made the decision after Brown twice referred to him as a liar and refused to yield when Tavares-Finson was clarifying an issue Brown had raised about the use of enactment clauses in the legislative process.

Senator Bunting sprang to his feet when Tavares-Finson made the ruling, remonstrated with the Senate President, then moved to lead a walkout of Opposition lawmakers.

Attorney-at-law and Government Senator Charles Sinclair told Bunting that he should not defend Brown, as the language Brown had used toward the Senate President was “clearly unparliamentary and rude”.

“He was rude. He cannot speak to the President like that. Have a good day,” Sinclair commented as Bunting railed against Tavares-Finson’s decision and prepared to walk out of the Senate sitting.

“Shut yuh mouth! You are a dunce and an idiot, a dunce and a fool,” Bunting shouted at Sinclair.

During the heated verbal exchange, Bunting used the word “bloody” as he packed his belongings to leave the parliamentary chamber, prompting the intervention of Government Senator Abka Fitz-Henley.

“Control yourself, you think this is a free-for-all? Control yourself. Remember where you are,” Fitz-Henley told the Opposition Senate Leader and former Security Minister.

The Government lawmaker also accused Bunting of grandstanding in order to achieve a headline.

“Headline you are trying to make. After 3:00 pm it is hard for grandstanding to make a drive-time headline, so better you come out,” Fitz-Henley fired back at Bunting.

Bunting was the last of the seven Opposition senators present at the time to leave the chamber. Before his exit, he turned and glared at both Fitz-Henley and Sinclair, then proceeded out of the chamber.

The heated verbal jousting occurred during the debate on an act to amend the Road Traffic Act.

After the Opposition walked out, acting House Leader Matthew Samuda closed the debate on the bill, and Government lawmakers voted in favour of its passage.

The draft legislation will allow for the nullification of demerit points for traffic offences committed before 2023.

The bill was approved in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.