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Following weeks of legal arguments the election petitions court on Thursday reserved judgment in the highly publicised legal battle between West Portland Member of Parliament (MP) Daryl Vaz and defeated People's National Party (PNP) candidate, Abe Dabdoub.
Chief Justice Zaila McCalla told the parties that her ruling will be handed down soon.
The Chief Justice is to rule on whether Mr. Vaz should remain in the House of Representatives even though he is a United States (US) citizen.
Mr. Dabdoub, who was defeated in the September 3 general election last year, is seeking to unseat Mr. Vaz, claiming that based on the constitution, he is a US citizen and is therefore disqualified from sitting as MP.
A victory for Mr. Dabdoub could see the Opposition PNP increasing its seat count in Parliament.
During final submissions, lawyers for Mr. Dabdoub argued that the court is bound by law to hand him the seat if Mr. Vaz is disqualified.
Lead attorney Gayle Nelson cited several English cases which he said show that the seat should be turned over to Mr. Dabdoub if the court rules in his favour.
Mr. Nelson argued that no by-election should be held, based on the law.
He argued that should the court agree with the petition, the ballots cast in favour of Mr. Vaz should be thrown away and Mr. Dabdoub, who was duly nominated, should be installed as MP for West Portland.
According to Mr. Nelson, the electors in West Portland were duly warned by Mr. Dabdoub that they would be wasting their ballots if they voted for Mr. Vaz.
He argued that the Director of Elections Danville Walker was improper when he told electors to disregard his warnings.
Chief Justice Zaila McCalla told the parties that her ruling will be handed down soon.
The Chief Justice is to rule on whether Mr. Vaz should remain in the House of Representatives even though he is a United States (US) citizen.
Mr. Dabdoub, who was defeated in the September 3 general election last year, is seeking to unseat Mr. Vaz, claiming that based on the constitution, he is a US citizen and is therefore disqualified from sitting as MP.
A victory for Mr. Dabdoub could see the Opposition PNP increasing its seat count in Parliament.
During final submissions, lawyers for Mr. Dabdoub argued that the court is bound by law to hand him the seat if Mr. Vaz is disqualified.
Lead attorney Gayle Nelson cited several English cases which he said show that the seat should be turned over to Mr. Dabdoub if the court rules in his favour.
Mr. Nelson argued that no by-election should be held, based on the law.
He argued that should the court agree with the petition, the ballots cast in favour of Mr. Vaz should be thrown away and Mr. Dabdoub, who was duly nominated, should be installed as MP for West Portland.
According to Mr. Nelson, the electors in West Portland were duly warned by Mr. Dabdoub that they would be wasting their ballots if they voted for Mr. Vaz.
He argued that the Director of Elections Danville Walker was improper when he told electors to disregard his warnings.