ST JOHN’S, Antigua (February 1, 2023)—The court will hear the election petition challenging the eligibility of Member of Parliament for St. Mary’s South Kelvin Simon on February 9, 2023.
Attorney Hugh Marshall, acting on behalf of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) filed the matter, contending that Simon, who was an employee of the government at the time of his nomination as a candidate for the United Progressive Party (UPP), was ineligible to be nominated in accordance with the Civil Service Act and the constitution.
Tuesday’s preliminary hearing set the timeline for submissions ahead of next Thursday’s hearing.
On the evening of the December 28, 2022 Nomination Day, a registered elector in St. Mary’s South, Casworth Aaron, wrote to Supervisor of Electors Dame Lorna Simon, contending that Simon’s nomination contravened the Civil Service Act, which states that “a civil servant is disqualified for membership of the Senate or the House of Representative, or any local government body.”
Simon, the UPP and their legal advisors, in response, called the claim and subsequent court challenge nonsensical, saying, amongst other defenses, that the Act speaks to election and not nomination. The UPP further challenged the constitutionality of the Act. A resignation letter date January 4, 2022—the year presumably a typographical error—subsequently made the rounds, indicating Simon’s resignation with immediate effect 14 days before the polls.
The losing ABLP candidate, Samantha Marshall, speaking to Dadli Media Pop Up on January 23, after being sworn in as the Leader of Government Business in the Senate and a Minister of State, said the case is needed for the record.
“I think really and truly it is important for this matter to be dealt with before the courts,” Marshall, a two-time representative for the area said. “This has always been something that has concerned persons whenever there is someone who is a civil servant and who goes up for elective politics. I think there needs to be a clear determination as to what is expected in those circumstances and whether there is anything unconstitutional about that.”
The election petition harkens back to 2009, when following the March 12, 2009 elections, the ABLP filed petitions challenging the results in four constituencies, namely Barbuda, St. George, St. John’s Rural North and St. John’s Rural West. The High Court invalidated the results in all but the St. George constituency in June 2010. The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, the final arbiter in electoral matters, overturned the ruling four months later.
In the January 2023 polls, Simon, who replaced Corthwright Marshall as the candidate a few months before elections on a slate that had been on the hustings since 2020, registered victory by 199 votes. He received 1,061 of the votes cast. Marshall polled 862, Andrew Antonio (Democratic National Alliance) 12, with five rejected ballots.
