Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Gerald Watt, has reversed his earlier
decision regarding the resignation of the member of St. Mary’s South, Kelvin
‘Shugy’ Simon.
During an appearance on the Browne and Browne show on Saturday, Sir Gerald
said that under the Antigua and Barbuda Constitution, the letter submitted by
Simon in early June complies with the dictates of the Constitution on the grounds
for a member to resign.
This means that the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission is duty-bound to
call a by-election in the constituency within a matter of 120 days.
This comes as the Election Court is due to hear a petition filed by a member of the
St. Mary’s Constituency, Casworth Aaron, which was originally scheduled to be
heard today.
However, Simon has also filed a petition to the court stating that based on the fact
that he has since resigned, the matters raised in the original petition before the
court has to be deemed moot.
Aaron had questioned Simon’s eligibility to contest the general elections, as at the
time of his nomination he had not tendered his resignation and therefore was still a
public servant, which is not permissible under the Constitution.
Sir Gerald said there clearly is a loophole in the Constitution that the framers of the
document perhaps never anticipated. However, it is clear that Simon saw this and
decided to exploit it.
Sir Gerald has written a letter to the Attorney General explaining the reasons for
the reversal of his position, regarding Simon’s resignation.
An intense political campaign is now likely to ensue as both the Antigua and
Barbuda Labour Party and the opposition United Progressive Party are expected to
pour resources into the campaign, to win the seat. Whilst it will not change the
power balance in the House, it will give the winning party a significant moral
victory.
