Anticipated Antigua election petition case today

The highly anticipated election petition case involving Antiguan Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer is to be heard in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean (OEC) Court of Appeal today.



Chief Justice Hugh Rawlins is presiding over the hearings.



Attorneys for Prime Minister Spencer and two of his Cabinet colleagues, Education Minister Jacqui Quinn-Leandro and Tourism Minister John Maginley have filed legal arguments in accordance with the rules that had previously been set out by the court.



The Appeals Court has set aside two days to hear arguments.



The court is to decide whether it will uphold or overturn a March 31 High Court judgment by Justice Louise Blenman that voided the election of the three United Progressive Party (UPP) parliamentarians.



The judge based her ruling on polling day irregularities, particularly the long delays before voting began in the three constituencies at the March 12, 2009 general election.



However, the ruling UPP had been able to get a stay of the High Court ruling, which allows Prime Minister Spencer and his two Cabinet ministers to continue in government.