Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

Notices circulated in western Portland by People's National Party (PNP) candidate Abe Dabdoub, advising electorates that Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate Daryl Vaz was not eligible to sit in Gordon House, could be his ticket back to Parliament.

Director of State Proceedings, Nicole Foster Pusey, who made submissions in the election petition brought against Vaz - the Member of Parliament for the constituency - by Dabdoub, said that there was no question that Vaz owed allegiance to the United States by virtue of being a citizen of that country.

Dabdoub, who lost the seat in the September 3, 2007, General Election, had circulated notices in the constituency prior to the polls. The notices stated that Vaz was not eligible to sit in the Parliament under the Jamaican Constitution as he had sworn allegiance to a foreign power.

Yesterday, Foster Pusey outlined in her written submission that if the notice properly outlined the bases of disqualification and was widely circulated in the constituency, then if the court found such facts, Dabdoub would be returned to the House of Representatives.

By-election issue

She said, however, that a by-election would be needed if the court agreed that a disqualification required legal arguments and complicated facts and inferences to be proved. In such event the votes cast for a disqualified candidate would not be thrown away and instead, the election would be void.

But, she said acknowledgement of allegiance had to be proved before Vaz could be disqualified from being a MP.

"The question to be asked is whether he has acted in a manner or taken specific steps amounting to an acknowledgement of his allegiance to the US. It is arguable that in light of the fact that he possesses a Jamaican passport, applying for, renewing and extensively using the United States passport shows also active pursuit, use and enjoyment of the benefits of his United States citizenship. In our view, these acts can be seen as an acknowledgement of his allegiance to the US.

Foster Pusey was making submissions on behalf of the attorney general and returning officer Carlton Harris, who are named as respondents in the election petition which Dabdoub has brought against Vaz.

Dabdoub is contending that because Vaz is a US citizen, he has pledged allegiance to a foreign power and was not entitled under the Jamaican Constitution to be a MP.

Foster Pusey stressed that if Vaz acquired US citizenship as a child, from his mother, he would be under a duty of allegiance, obedience and adherence to the US by virtue of an act which was not his own. She pointed out that if Vaz, however, by his own act renewed and used for travel, his US passport, it was arguable that he had acknowledged his allegiance, obedience or adherence to the US for the purposes of Section 40 (2) of the Constitution.

She referred to the notices which Dabdoub had distributed in the constituency that stated Vaz had a US passport and said that in the event that it was proven that Vaz was disqualified from nomination, the question for the court then remained as to what was the result of the election for the constituency of Western Portland.

Chief Justice Zaila McCalla has adjourned the hearing until Monday when Dabdoub's lawyer, Gayle Nelson, will make legal submissions.