The people need a voice - Golding

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Bruce Golding said it was unfair to the people of North East St Ann for them to remain without a parliamentary representative.

In announcing a by-election for the constituency yesterday, Golding argued that the Government could not allow the seat to remain vacant for an extended period based on Wednesday's court decision lifting the stay on the by-election.

"Mr Justice Dennis Morrison evidently was not impressed by those arguments advanced by Mr Dabdoub, and certainly, the rights of the people of North East St Ann are not going to be determined by Mr Dabdoub," Golding told reporters at the party's Belmont Road headquarters yesterday.

He said while the JLP is prepared to deal with the court's decision based on the appeal for the seat to be handed to Senior Smith, that would not stop the by-election.

"I don't know that anybody could accept, in a democratic society, to have a constituency that has been without a member of parliament (MP) since September, and for them to wait until March of next year. What happens to them in the meanwhile, and what happens to their rights?" argued Golding.

"You know it is something that the PNP, when they were in office, were guilty of, and they didn't need any court intervention or interruption to do it," added Golding as he pointed to at least three occasions where the People's National Party (PNP) administration allowed constituencies to remain without representation for up to 13 months.

"That may be their approach to political representation, but we feel, and the people of North East St Ann agree, that they must have a representative in Parliament, and we are going to make sure they have an opportunity to do that," Golding said.

He told the media briefing that Robinson, who is off the island attending to a sick relative, would again be the JLP's representative, despite claims that she misled the courts.

US passport surrendered

Golding repeated the argument advanced by Robinson that she was led to believe that she had done enough by handing in her United States passport to qualify to sit in the House of Representatives.

The prime minister noted that this was the fourth time he was calling a by-election because a JLP representative had been booted from the House since the 2007 general election related to dual citizenship.

He used the opportunity to warn that the JLP would be going after PNP representatives in a similar position.

"There are matters that are being pursued because it is only fair that if persons who are declared to be ineligible because of their dual citizenship ... it is time I come here to make some announcements regarding persons on the other side, and those matters are being pursued vigorously," Golding said.

He hinted that in addition to opposition MPs Ian Hayles and Sharon Hay-Webster, who are believed to have held dual citizenship at the time of their nomination for the 2007 general election, the Government could be going after others.

But Golding would not be drawn into saying which other PNP members were under the microscope.