CARIBBEAN TODAY


-usw^caribbeantodj..c.


P 0 1 I T I C S


Jamaican politician renounces U.S. citizenship


KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -
The way is now clear for
embattled Jamaica Labour
Party (JLP) candidate Daryl
Vaz, to seek re-election as the
Member of Parliament for the
West Portland constituency.
 Vaz announced last month
that he had officially
renounced his American citi-
zenship, allaying concerns
about his eligibility for the by-
election in the West Portland
constituency which was
ordered by court in April.
 Chief Justice Zaila
McCalla made the ruling after
the Opposition People's


Jduuuuu, Illl, VdL


National Party (PNP) candi-
date Abe Dabdoub chal-
lenged Vaz's election on the
grounds of his dual citizen-
ship.
 Vaz's renunciation of his
American citizenship is the
most recent development in


the dual citizenship row here.
Last month, Director of
Elections Danville Walker
resigned with immediate effect
after it was disclosed that he
too held dual citizenship.
 Vaz said that he supported
Walker's decision to resign and
also called on Members of
Parliament across the political
divide to declare their loyalties.
 Dabdoub has said he
would take the issue to the
Privy Council if he was not
named the M.P. for West
Portland.
0


... JLP candidate follows opponent, files appeal


KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -
Less than 24 hours after the
Opposition People's National
Party's (PNP) Abe Dabdoub
filed an appeal to be declared
the Member of Parliament for
the West Portland constituen-
cy, the sitting M.P Daryl Vaz
appealed a judge's decision
that disqualified him from
holding the seat.
 In documents filed in
court on May 15 the Jamaica
Labour Party's (JLP) Vaz said
Chief Justice Zaila McCalla
was wrong in ruling that he
was not qualified to sit as M.P.


because he holds a United
States passport.
 Vaz also intends to chal-
lenge the ruling that he was
not duly nominated in August
last year, just ahead of the
Sept. 3, 2007 general elections.
 "Mr. Dabdoub filed an
appeal.. .so as a result I have
had to file an appeal.. .so that
in the worse case scenario I will
be able to stay in Parliament
during the life of the appeal,"
Vaz explained.
 "But I am hoping that we
will be successful in arguing
against any stay being granted


which means it would clear
the way for a by-election. If
that is done then obviously
there would be no need for
me to pursue the appeal," he
added.
 In April, Chief Justice
McCalla ruled that Vaz should
be disqualified from sitting in
Parliament because he holds
dual citizenship. But instead
of turning over the seat to
Dabdoub she ordered a by-
election, prompting the PNP
candidate to file his appeal.


 Haitian Parliament rejects


nominee for prime minister


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti,
CMC One month after the
Senate dismissed Prime
Minister Jacques Edouard
Alexis, law-
makers in
Haiti have
rejected
President
Rend
Prival's lat-
est nominee
for the post.
 The
Lower Prbval
House of
Parliament
last month voted by a margin
of 51-35, with nine absten-
tions, to reject economist
Ericq Pierre as Alexis's
replacement.
 "We didn't really believe
in the plan that he had for the
people of this country,"
Levaillant Louis Jeune, a
leading Opposition legislator
told reporters.
 Pierre, 63, a senior official
with the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB),
had been nominated by
President Preval to replace
Alexis who was dismissed on
April 12 over criticism that his
government failed to show


leadership and mismanaged
the economy before violent
food protests that left seven
people dead.

CONFIDENCE
 Preval will have to nomi-
nate another candidate, who
must win a vote of confidence
in the two houses of
Parliament and Stephen
 Benoit, a
 member of
 Pr6val's
 Lespwa
 party, said
 Haitians
 must unite
 behind the
 next nomi-
 nee.
 Pierre "We
 need to
have a new prime minister in
office soon," he said.
 Prival nominated Pierre
for the same position in 1997,
but he was rejected after
promising to push a United
States-backed economic plan
that would have resulted in
thousands of government
workers being laid off and pri-
vatized state-run enterprises.
0


June 2008