By-election for North East St Ann
SHAHINE Robinson of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) lost her parliamentary seat of North East St Ann in the Supreme Court today after her lawyers failed to appear.
The declaration that the seat is vacant means that the JLP currently has a 31-28 majority heading into this afternoon’s no-confidence motion against the prime minister Bruce Golding brought by the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP).
Manley Bowen of the PNP filed the petition against Robinson on the grounds that she was ineligible to stand at the time of the 2007 general election since she was a citizen of the United States.
The PNP has already forced three by-elections in JLP seats on the grounds of dual citizenship. Gregory Mair, Daryl Vaz and Michael Stern all retained their seats for the JLP.
The prime minister is to announce the date for the by-election.
