Jamaican MP Everald Warmington has resigned his seat in the Jamaican House of Representatives, giving up the constituency of South West St. Catherine. Warmington said he resigned because he felt he had offended section 40(2) of the Constitution, which involves eligibility for membership in the House of Representatives. Warmington is the latest MP to lose a seat over having a second passport, including four other JLP members: Daryl Vaz, Michael Stern, Shahine Robinson and Gregory Mair. Vaz was involved in a high-profile court case in 2007, Dabdoub v. Vaz, which had Abraham Dabdoub challenging Vaz’s eligibility to run for Parliament for the West Portland seat.
The Caribbean Journal has provided the full constitutional provision here:
40 (2) No person shall be qualified to be appointed as a Senator or elected as a member of the House of Representatives who-
a. is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign Power or State;
b. holds or is acting in any public office or the office of Judge of the Supreme Court or Judge of the Court of Appeal or, save as is otherwise provided by Parliament, is a member of a defence force;
c. is a party to, or a partner in a firm or a director or manager of a company which to his knowledge is a party to, any contract with the Government of Jamaica for or on account of the public service, and has not-
i. in the case of appointment as a Senator, by informing the Governor-General; or
ii. in the case of election as a member of the House of Representatives, by publishing a notice in the Gazette within one month before the day of election, previously disclosed the nature of such contract and his interest or the interest of such firm or company therein;
d. subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, is under sentence of death imposed on him by a court in any part of the Commonwealth, or is serving a sentence of imprisonment (by whatever name called) of or exceeding six months imposed on him by such a court or substituted by competent authority for some other sentence imposed on him by such a court or is under such a sentence of imprisonment the execution of which is suspended;
e. has been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in any part of the Commonwealth and has not been discharged;
f. is, under any law for the time being in force in Jamaica, certified to be insane or otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind or detained as a criminal lunatic; or
g. is disqualified for membership of the House of Representatives by or under any law for the time being in force in Jamaica because he has been convicted of any offence connected with the election of members of that House or of any local authority or body for local purposes.