By-election!
THE Supreme Court yesterday declared the North East St Ann seat vacant, clearing the way for the island’s fourth by-election since the 2007 general elections as a result of challenges to Government members’ legitimacy in Parliament because of their sworn allegiance to a foreign power.
The ruling by Justice Roy Jones comes after Shahine Robinson was disqualified last month as member of Parliament for the constituency.
Robinson’s disqualification came after she was forced to back down from defending a challenge by the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Manley Bowen, who had provided information to the court showing that she had in fact sworn allegiance to the United States in 2006 while she was a sitting MP. Sections 39 and 40 of the Jamaican Constitution forbid parliamentarians from swearing allegiance to a foreign power, which is any country outside of the Commonwealth.
In making his ruling yesterday, Justice Jones rejected an application by attorney Abe Dabdoub for the seat to be handed over to his client Oswest Senior-Smith, who was defeated by Robinson in the September 3, 2007 general election.
Dabdoub was granted leave by Jones to appeal the decision not to hand Senior-Smith the seat.
A date for a by-election to elect a representative will now have to be set by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
Moments after the ruling, Robinson, through her lawyer Nesta-Clair Smith-Hunter, said she would be offering herself to contest the by-election. Smith-Hunter said that Robinson has completed the process of renouncing her United States citizenship.
“My instruction is that [the renunciation] process is now complete and that Mrs Robinson is now in a position to offer herself as a candidate for the Jamaica Labour Party for the by-election,” said Smith-Hunter.
“She is very relieved that this part of the process is over and she is looking forward to the by-election and, hopefully, she’ll once again become member of Parliament for the constituency of North East St Ann,” Smith-Hunter added.
The PNP has already forced three by-elections in JLP seats on the grounds of dual citizenship. Daryl Vaz (West Portland), Desmond Gregory Mair (North East St Catherine), and Michael Stern (North West Clarendon) all retained their seats in the by-elections.
Robinson was yesterday ordered by the court to foot the legal cost for the court proceedings which is likely to run into several millions of dollars. The proceedings were initiated by Bowen on September 24, 2007.