By Robert A Emmanuel
The United Progressive Party (UPP) has revealed it has applied for the judge overseeing the election petition against Kelvin ‘Shugy’ Simon to be recused.
This development was shared at a well-attended town hall meeting at the Urlings Primary School on Monday night, where the embattled MP plus UPP executive members met with St Mary’s South constituents to discuss the ongoing election petition against Simon along with his plans for the area.
Former UPP political leader Harold Lovell told those assembled that “our side have made an application for the judge to recuse for a number of reasons, so we are just awaiting that”.
The UPP said it continues to believe that Simon’s resignation as an MP on June 7 was done in a correct manner. The party has criticised the Speaker of the House, Sir Gerald Watt, for rejecting the resignation.
Sir Gerald argued that Simon needed to resign as a member of the opposition in order to quit the post, stating that section 125 of the Constitution, which deals with resignations, and section 41 which deals with the tenure of an elected/appointed official must be read together.
Simon and the UPP have requested that Sir Gerald reconsider his stance, arguing that the Speaker had no authority to accept or reject the letter and that his interpretation of the Constitution was wrong.
Up to news time, there had been no response from the Speaker on a second letter sent by MP Simon.
Moving on, Lovell said that Simon’s resignation had made the election petition “moot”.
“Our position is that the whole matter is moot … [constituent Casworth Aaron’s legal] challenge is to remove him from the seat; he has already resigned from the seat so … it really doesn’t have any more impact, but we are not taking any chances,” he said.
Lovell indicated that the party was willing to go “all the way” to defend Simon’s election as MP regardless of whether the court decides to continue with the challenge or not.
“We have frustrated their game plan, their plan is to get Samantha [Marshall] in through the back door … and we are satisfied that we are in a strong position as that issue is concerned,” Lovell said.
If Simon is allowed to resign as an MP, this will trigger a by-election for the seat of St Mary’s South which must by law be held within 120 days. Simon is widely expected to once again run against Marshall, whom he beat by 199 votes in the January general election.
He previously said a protracted legal battle was unfair to his constituents and was hindering plans he has for the community.
Simon’s position as MP for St Mary’s South has been under legal challenge since his election on January 18, with the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) claiming he was ineligible for office as he was still a civil servant at the time of his nomination. The 43-year-old from Bolans quit his job with the Education Ministry a fortnight before the poll.
The election petition is currently set to be heard by High Court Justice Dia Forrester.