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Don't punish me for my mother's action - Vaz
Saturday, December 15, 2007
DARYL Vaz, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) MP for West Portland, is asking the Supreme Court of Jamaica not to unseat him because of an act of his mother, by whom he obtained his United States citizenship.
And in the event the court should rule against him in his legal battle with the defeated People's National Party (PNP) candidate, Abe Dabdoub, Vaz is further requesting that the court orders a by-election in the constituency, in order not to defeat the will of the people.
Dabdoub is hoping to wrest the seat from Vaz, on grounds that he is a US citizen, which should disqualify from holding a seat in the Jamaican parliament.
On Friday, David Rowe, a law professor from the United States, testified during the election petition on behalf of Dabdoub, that aliens who obtained US citizenship through their parents must affirm their citizenship by spending a required period in the US, between the ages of 14 and 28, or the citizenship would be revoked.
Rowe said that under Section 301(b) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, that the revoked citizenship could be renewed by the foreigner swearing an allegiance to the US.
Rowe will continue his testimony in the witness box on Monday under cross-examination.
Dabdoub wants the court to find that Vaz, by his own actions is under acknowledgment of allegiance to the US, contrary to the Jamaican constitution, and should not be permitted to sit in Parliament. He also wants the court to declare him the duly elected candidate of the constituency, making him the "rightful" member of parliament.
Vaz's legal team is, however, contending that he had obtained his citizenship through his mother, which is not an act on his part.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Zaila McCalla and Vaz's legal team yesterday expressed concerns over inaccurate reporting about the court proceeding, stemming from a front page Gleaner report yesterday morning.
The newspaper had reported information about three immigration cards that were presented in court Thursday, only one of which was entered into evidence, alleging that Vaz had travelled to the US on an American passport. Details of the immigration cards were not revealed in court.
"What The Gleaner reported was sensational," one of Vaz's lawyers told the Observer. "If the information was obtained elsewhere it should not be reported as if it was revealed in court."
Saturday, December 15, 2007
DARYL Vaz, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) MP for West Portland, is asking the Supreme Court of Jamaica not to unseat him because of an act of his mother, by whom he obtained his United States citizenship.
And in the event the court should rule against him in his legal battle with the defeated People's National Party (PNP) candidate, Abe Dabdoub, Vaz is further requesting that the court orders a by-election in the constituency, in order not to defeat the will of the people.
Dabdoub is hoping to wrest the seat from Vaz, on grounds that he is a US citizen, which should disqualify from holding a seat in the Jamaican parliament.
On Friday, David Rowe, a law professor from the United States, testified during the election petition on behalf of Dabdoub, that aliens who obtained US citizenship through their parents must affirm their citizenship by spending a required period in the US, between the ages of 14 and 28, or the citizenship would be revoked.
Rowe said that under Section 301(b) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, that the revoked citizenship could be renewed by the foreigner swearing an allegiance to the US.
Rowe will continue his testimony in the witness box on Monday under cross-examination.
Dabdoub wants the court to find that Vaz, by his own actions is under acknowledgment of allegiance to the US, contrary to the Jamaican constitution, and should not be permitted to sit in Parliament. He also wants the court to declare him the duly elected candidate of the constituency, making him the "rightful" member of parliament.
Vaz's legal team is, however, contending that he had obtained his citizenship through his mother, which is not an act on his part.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Zaila McCalla and Vaz's legal team yesterday expressed concerns over inaccurate reporting about the court proceeding, stemming from a front page Gleaner report yesterday morning.
The newspaper had reported information about three immigration cards that were presented in court Thursday, only one of which was entered into evidence, alleging that Vaz had travelled to the US on an American passport. Details of the immigration cards were not revealed in court.
"What The Gleaner reported was sensational," one of Vaz's lawyers told the Observer. "If the information was obtained elsewhere it should not be reported as if it was revealed in court."