( L - R ) Dabdoub, Vaz

WHEN THE clock strikes 9:30 this morning, Daryl Vaz and Abe Dabdoub should already be huddled in a downtown Kingston courtroom, awaiting a decision from the Court of Appeal.

The fight for the right to represent West Portland intensifies.

Vaz was elected member of parliament on election night, September 3, 2007, but was ousted after lawyers representing Dabdoub convinced Chief Justice Zaila McCalla that he was not qualified to be elected.

McCalla had ordered a by-election and Vaz has spared few campaigning stops in his attempts to remain in the eastern parish.

Attempted to reconnect

Dabdoub, on the other hand, has attempted to reconnect in recent days with People's National Party (PNP) supporters on the ground, but would also be disappointed if McCalla's order of a by-election was upheld.

Gleaner sources have confirmed that Vaz has lost his appeal to have McCalla's ruling overturned.

The panel of Court of Appeal judges, comprising Justices Seymour Panton, Algernon Smith and Karl Harrison, will be delivering one of two rulings today: Either that a by-election takes place or that the seat is handed directly to Dabdoub.

Even before the September 2007 general election, Dabdoub had circulated notices in West Portland informing constituents they would waste their votes if they voted for Vaz.

Under the Constitution, no person, who, by his own act, pledges allegiance/obedience to a foreign power is qualified to sit in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

But in the height of the general election campaign, Danville Walker, who was director of elections, declared all candidates, including Vaz, duly nominated.

Awarding Dabdoub the seat could spell disaster for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which has three similar cases pending against its elected members.

Vaz is expecting the court to rule favourably.

The JLP won 32 of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives.

The slim majority means today's ruling could have grave implications for the Government.

Three others

Three other JLP MPs, Shahine Robinson, Michael Stern and Gregory Mair, are facing similar questions of eligibility.

The doctrine of judicial precedent could therefore decide whether Prime Minister Bruce Golding heads back to the polls.

Golding has already said he would not allow a "technicality" to dictate who represents a constituency in Parliament.

In 2001, Dabdoub was successful in having the court boot Phyllis Mitchell of the governing PNP.

Dabdoub was a JLP representative and had gone to court to argue there was an abuse of the electoral system in one political division.

Dabdoub subsequently switched allegiance to the PNP after he fell out with the leadership of his party.

Vaz, has since relinquished his American citizenship.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com