By Robert A Emmanuel
A by-election to fill the vacant seat for the St Mary’s South constituency will be held after the High Court ruled that the election petition against its most recent occupant, Kelvin Simon, was academic.
A preliminary hearing was held on Monday on the issue of whether Simon’s resignation on June 7 as an MP had rendered the Court case moot, and yesterday Justice Jan Drysdale ruled in the affirmative.
According to the High Court judge, as there was no legal challenge to the Speaker of the House, Sir Gerald Watt’s latest assertion that Simon’s resignation was valid, there was no longer a live issue for the Court to resolve.
The petition, brought by Casworth Aaron, sought to argue that the nomination of Simon to run as a candidate for the constituency was invalid, as he was a public servant at the time of his nomination.
Hugh Marshall Jr and Co, representing the petitioner, sought to argue that the resignation of Simon from the House should not be allowed to deter the Court from hearing the case as there was significant public interest in the case, especially for civil servants who may wish to run for elective politics in the future.
However, Justice Drysdale said that the law was clear as to the procedure for civil servants to run for politics, and the case facts were unique only to Simon and whether his actions were ethical under the law.
Marshall Jr, at Monday’s hearing, also sought to argue that there was still an issue before the Court to answer as to whether the votes for Simon at the January 18 polls were invalid and thus, the second placed winner should be declared the representative for St Mary’s South.
However, the judge stated that once Simon had resigned, the Constitution was clear that a by-election must be held to determine its next occupant.
Immediately following the ruling, Simon and his attorneys, Kendrickson Kentish, Harold Lovell, Sherrie-Ann Bradshaw, Leon Symister and Charlesworth Tabor, as well as United Progressive Party supporters were ecstatic, even to the point of being unable to contain their joy until the adjournment of the Court.
Simon spoke to Observer media immediately following the ruling, stating that he’d had no fear as to the ultimate outcome of the case.
“I am elated … happy … excited that this cloud has passed, and it is onward to doing some work and winning back the seat for the people of St Mary’s South,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Samantha Marshall, whom Simon defeated in the January 18 general elections, said that she was confident in her ability to retake the seat in a by-election.
“I have been prepared for any eventuality and … I have been on the ground campaigning, so this is no big surprise and, perhaps, the victory will be sweeter when I beat him at the polls.”
In the 18 January 2023 elections, Simon, representing the United Progressive Party (UPP) replaced the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) candidate, Marshall, as the representative for St Mary’s South after he won the seat by a margin of 199 votes — 1,061 to 862 – while the third candidate Andrew Antonio Democratic National Alliance (DNA) received 12 votes.
Meanwhile, the date for the by-election was not known at the time of writing as the Prime Minister has yet to make an announcement in that regard. However, a by-election is constitutionally bound to be held in less than 120 days since Simon’s resignation letter was handed to the Speaker of the House, Sir Gerald Watt KC.
