Abe Dabdoub, who is seeking to have the Court of Appeal overturn the chief justice’s ruling to have a by-election in the West Portland seat, yesterday asked the court to impose a fine on Daryl Vaz for every day that he sits and votes in Parliament.

The chief justice ruled earlier this year that Vaz be disqualified from occupying a seat in the legislature by virtue of his holding of dual citizenship, following a suit brought against him by Dabdoub, who unsuccessfully contested the West Portland seat on behalf of the People’s National Party in the September 3, 2007 general elections.

Attorney Jalil Dabdoub, appearing for Abe Dabdoub, yesterday asked the court to slap Vaz with a fine under Section 46 of the Constitution, which states that a fine of J$20 per day should be imposed on an elected member who sits in the House of Representatives and casts a vote with the knowledge that he or she is not entitled to do so.

Dabdoub had said earlier in his submission to the court that Vaz was fully aware that he was not qualified to be a part of the House of Representatives by virtue of his ‘allegiance’ to the United States of America.

In court yesterday, Dabdoub recounted Vaz’s own testimony in the Supreme Court that he was cognisant of the fact that he could renounce his US citizenship before the elections but chose not to.

Vaz was disqualified as member of Parliament for West Portland by Chief Justice Zaila McCalla on April 11. McCalla had ruled that Vaz’s actions of renewing and travelling on his US passport constituted an allegiance to that country.

But she also refused a request that the seat be handed over to Dabdoub and instead ruled that a by-election be held.

Dabdoub, the People’s National Party’s caretaker for West Portland, had brought the action to have Vaz disqualified following his loss in the elections.