A faction of prominent members within the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is now contending that disciplinary action should be taken against their leader, Andrew Holness, for “bringing the party into disrepute” with what they described as his trail of missteps and poor decision-making.

The high-ranking members said that Holness’s decision to seek legal advice from former JLP member Abe Dabdoub — who is now a member of the People’s National Party (PNP) — in the constitutional dispute that has deepened divisions within the party is the last straw and that steps should be taken for Holness to be brought before the organisation’s Disciplinary Committee.

“Engaging Abe Dabdoub, either paid or for gratis, is the last in a comedy of errors as it relates to Holness’s judgement,” said a senior member who, like others who spoke for this article, asked not to be named.

“With Abe Dabdoub and his history and his personal attack on the leader in 2011, the talk about taking Delroy (Chuck), Gregory Mair and Daryl Vaz to the Disciplinary Committee — if anyone should be taken to the Disciplinary Committee for brining the party into disrepute it’s Holness on three counts: his and the party’s association with [Harold] Brady, the constitutional case, and the association with Dabdoub,” added a senior MP.

“The whole situation over the last six months with Holness’s missteps can only be described as an outrage. Holness has self-destructed and is now unmarketable, which renders the labour party unelectable under his leadership. How could Holness trust Dabdoub with his history?” he said.

Dabdoub left the JLP ahead of the 2007 general election which he contested for the PNP, running against Vaz for the Portland Northwest constituency. Dabdoub lost the seat as the PNP was swept from power after just over 18 years running the country. But Dabdoub came close to toppling the young Government, led by Bruce Golding, with challenges in the Supreme Court to take the seats of Vaz, Mair (St Catherine Northeast), Shahine Robinson (St Ann (Northeast), and Michael Stern (Clarendon Northwest) over their dual citizenship.

The court declared that the candidates were not properly nominated to contest the election because of their dual citizenship status. But the court refused to rule that the seats should go to the losing PNP candidates in the respective constituencies.

The JLP MPs retained their seats in by-elections that ended up costing the State over $100 million to run.

Additionally, the MPs and the JLP had to spend millions of dollars defending the various challenges. Legal costs of approximately $20 million are still owed by Robinson to the PNP member who contested the legality of her election.

Dabdoub is currently suing Vaz over comments he made in a newspaper article during his dual citizenship fight.

Now, high-ranking labourites said Dabdoub — who also ran against Mair in the 2011 general election which the JLP lost — is considered an “enemy of the party” and should not have been engaged by Holness in such a sensitive party matter.

“Labourites are steaming mad because of the heartache and costs he caused us,” said another.

Asked for a comment on the latest controversy with Dabdoub, Mair said: “The situation is not worthy of a comment. It is too sad.”

Up to press time, Vaz did not respond to messages seeking a comment.

Last Thursday, as the controversy spiralled, Robert Nesta Morgan, Holness’s media manager, was reported as saying that Dabdoub was merely engaged by the legal team to give his opinion on the constitutional issue and that he’s not representing Holness, as is the situation with the PNP’s KD Knight representing JLP MP James Robertson.

But senior party members dismissed Morgan’s comment, telling the Sunday Observer that the two situations are not the same. They said that the case with Holness is in his capacity as party and Opposition leader, and involves constitutional issues with “far-reaching implications” for the JLP. Robertson, they said, retained the service of Knight in a personal matter as it relates to a case of creating public mischief in which his name was called in a reported plot to kill Holness, which turned out to be a hoax.

Last week, the usually reserved Member of Parliament Delroy Chuck publicly lashed out against the decision by Holness to tap Dabdoub for advice on his appeal of a ruling by Jamaica’s Constitutional Court that the approach used by him (Holness) to unseat senators Dr Christopher Tufton and Arthur Williams in November 2013 was unconstitutional, as well as null and void.

Chuck complained about not being selected to be part of the legal team assembled for Holness’s appeal, while reminding that Dabdoub still has matters before the courts against Vaz and Robinson.

The Court of Appeal is to hear the Holness matter on Monday, March 16. Chuck was said to be off the island and was not available for a comment yesterday.

Political watchers and even members of the Labour Party started questioning Holness’s ability to unite and lead the party to victory at the polls after he beat back a leadership challenge by Audley Shaw in November 2013.

The ousting of Tufton and Williams from the Senate, it has been speculated, was due to the fact that they supported Shaw.

Party insiders said Holness’s decision to restore attorney Harold Brady to membership of the Standing Committee and the Central Executive and his promotion to the chairmanship of the Legal and Constitution Committee are examples of poor judgement on Holness’s part.

By the time Golding gave up leadership of the party in 2011, making way for Holness to take the reins, Brady, who had a lawsuit against Golding over the Manatt/Dudus affair, had been sidelined.

“How can a new leader, knowing what had transpired with the party and the old leader, and knowing who was the common thread of that, take him back in and put him in the position he is in now?” asked a senior member of the party.