The High Court will convene on 9th February to hear preliminary arguments in the case that will determine the validity of Kelvin Simon’s nomination to be a member of the House of Representatives.
Three motions were filed in the High Court by attorney Hugh Marshall Jr. on behalf of the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party and their candidate in the just concluded elections, Samantha Marshall.
One seeks an injunction which will prevent Simon from taking his oaths as a member of the Parliament; the second motion seeks leave to subpoena a member of the Public Service Commission to give evidence concerning the status of Simon’s employment with the government and the third asks the court to rule that his nomination last December contravened the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda making it invalid.
The ABLP contends that at the time of his nomination on 28th December, 2022, Simon was still a member of the Civil Service.
Both the Civil Service Act and “Section 39 1 (g) of the constitution clearly spell out that anyone who is a member of the public service at the time of his or her nomination is ineligible to be a member of the House of Representatives,” Hugh Marshall explained.
On this basis, Marshall contends that at the time of his nomination, Simon was not qualified to contest the elections in January as he had not tendered his resignation with the Public Service Commission, nor had sufficient time been given to the body to consider the resignation ahead of the general elections.
The attorneys on both sides have this Friday and next Monday to make their submissions to the court ahead of the hearing next Thursday.
