Former West Portland Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz and wife Ann-Marie leave the Court of Appeal in downtown Kingston yesterday, minutes after the ruling by the judges of the high court. The Court of Appeal judges upheld Chief Justice Zaila McCalla's ruling for the holding of a by-election in the Dabdoub and Vaz court battle for the west Portland seat. - Norman Grindley /Chief Photographer
The battle for West Portland will move from the courtroom to the polling booths on Monday, March 23, when the almost 18,000 voters are called back to cast their votes.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced the date for the by-election yesterday, hours after the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling by Chief Justice Zaila McCalla.
Golding further announced that Nomination Day would be Friday, March 6, with former Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz to contest the seat on behalf of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
"The people of West Portland have been subjected to uncertainty, ambiguity and some amount of anguish for too long. This matter must be brought to its ultimate finality. We will go to the polls to give the people a final opportunity to declare who they wish to be their representative in Parliament," Golding told a media briefing at the party's Belmont Road headquarters yesterday morning.
The JLP leader was upbeat about Vaz's chances at the polls following his victory by 944 votes in the 2007 general election.
According to Golding, the first-time MP should be back in his post as junior minister in the Office of the Prime Minister in short order.
"I have every confidence that Daryl Vaz, who will be absent from Jamaica House for the next few weeks, will report for duty on the 24th of March," Golding declared.
PNP disappointed
For its part, the People's National Party (PNP) yesterday rued the decision of the judges not to award the seat to Abe Dabdoub.
"We note this morning's (Friday) ruling of the Court of Appeal and, while we are disappointed, we acknowledge the ruling and eagerly await the written judgement," PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill told The Gleaner.
Pickersgill said his party would be contesting the by-election, but up to late afternoon he had not said if Dabdoub would be its standard bearer.
"We are meeting now and all matters relating to the by-election will be discussed," Pickersgill said, as he prepared to sit with the party's senior members in eastern Jamaica.
Member of Parliament for eastern Portland, Dr Donald Rhodd, and vice-president in charge of the region, Dr Fenton Ferguson, were among those gathered at the PNP's Old Hope Road headquarters to discuss the court ruling.
"We are a party that is always prepared for all eventualities. On no occasion in the past have we ever been unable to field candidates," Pickersgill added.
The PNP chairman challenged Prime Minister Golding to call by-elections in the three other seats where challenges have been mounted against sitting JLP members of parliament.
"The party is calling on the prime minister to uphold and protect the Constitution that he is sworn to, by indicating the status of the other JLP MPs who are also not qualified to sit in the House of Representatives," Pickersgill said.
But the prime minister had already told journalists that he would not be rushing to call by-elections in those constituencies.
"Those matters are in the hands of our lawyers. They are still before the courts and, therefore, I wouldn't want to pre-empt that situation. Each case has its own merit and our lawyers will advise us appropriately," Golding said.
Sitting Government MPs Gregory Mair, Shahine Robinson and Michael Stern are facing court challenges following allegations that they are not qualified to sit in the House of Representatives because they are citizens of other countries.