Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris says the case in which his government is seeking a High Court ruling on whether or not a former prime minister should be removed from Parliament because he is alleged to be in possession of a diplomatic passport of another country has “significance to the Commonwealth family with their rich Westminster model of democracy”.
“The Constitution specifies who can be a member of the Parliament and how membership in the House is invalidated or brought to an end. Dr Douglas then will defend the case as to whether he is in breach of the Constitution at section 28(1)(a) and the National Assembly Elections Act,” Harris told a news conference as he made reference to the efforts to remove former prime minister and Opposition Leader Dr. Denzil Douglas from the Parliament.
Last month, Attorney General Vincent Byron said the government had filed a fixed date claim form for the High Court to rule on whether or not the former prime minister possessed a diplomatic passport of another country.
According to the documents filed in the High Court, the government is seeking a declaration that since the election to the National Assembly on February 16th, 2015, “Douglas became disqualified from being elected as a member of the National Assembly and was accordingly required to vacate his seat in the National Assembly by reason of his becoming a person who, by virtue of his own act, is in accordance with the law of the Commonwealth of Dominica, under an acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state, namely the said Commonwealth of Dominica”.
The government is also seeking a declaration that Douglas has vacated his seat in the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis and wants an injunction restraining him from taking his seat in the National Assembly and from performing his functions as a member.
The government is also seeking costs and “such further and/or other relief as this Honourable Court may deem just and expedient”.
Last October, Prime Minister Harris accused Douglas of holding a Dominican diplomatic passport and said his administration would move to the High Court to get him expelled from the National Assembly.
Harris said then that the government “is finalising an application to the High Court, seeking declarations that the Leader of the Opposition is no longer eligible to continue sitting as a representative in the National Assembly and that he should, accordingly, be required to vacate his seat”.
Harris said that the issue had already been brought to the attention of the Speaker “given the importance of this for our democracy, our country, our people and its parliament”.
Douglas, who until February 2015, was the longest-serving head of government in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), has, in the past, denied the allegation made by Harris, who at one time had served as his finance minister, but had been dismissed, prior to the last general election.
Douglas had said then, that he “does not hold dual citizenship, has never held dual citizenship, does not hold and never held citizenship of Dominica or any other country, except that of St. Kitts and Nevis”.
Senior Counsel, Anthony Astaphan, who is representing Douglas, has brushed aside the allegation, saying his client did not need to take an oath in order to be a citizen of Dominica.
But Harris told reporters that the matter of the possession and use of a Dominican diplomatic passport is before the Court.
“This is a matter of grave constitutional, political and parliamentary significance to the Commonwealth family with their rich Westminster model of democracy. Recent cases in Jamaica and Australia attest to the significance of this matter,” he said.
He said that the Parliament “must guard itself against imposters and fraudsters parading as duly elected members.
“In this regard, the question of eligibility of a member to serve in Parliament is a significant matter. Government has asked the Court to make a determination on this matter. I understand that this matter is slated for hearing on February 26, 2018,” he told reporters.
Harris insisted that elected legislators “must serve their constituents and Parliament loyally and faithfully. “There must not be divided loyalties between duty to constituents and Parliament on one hand, and loyalty to a foreign power on the other. When such conflict raises its ugly head, the member ought to resign,” he added.
