Jamaican MP Switches Parties, Renounces United States Citizenship

By: - November 2nd, 2011

Above: Sharon Hay-Webster (JIS Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaican Member of Parliament Sharon Hay-Webster has switched from being an independent to a member of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, along with renouncing her United States citizenship, something that had been the subject of controversy.

The Jamaican constitution has been construed to prohibit members of parliament or senators from possessing dual citizenship, with several MPs allegedly having two passports. [https://www.caribjournal.com2011/03/09/golding-admits-knowledge-of-ineligible-parliamentarians/]

“For the record, let me say I was born in the United States in September 1961,” she said. “However, I chose to be a citizen of Jamaica, having lived here since January of 1962. My unique case, however, remains in the courts.”

Hay-Webster said she was awaiting a court ruling on the matter, and that a number of Jamaicans in the diaspora would like to serve and were interested in the outcome.

She called the decision to join the JLP “an easy one,” saying that “the level of maturity displayed by the party in its approach to governance, inclusiveness and its declared position of a new politics, I find commendable and attractive.”

Hay-Webster is the MP for South Central St Catherine, where she has served since 1997 for the PNP.

She first announced in 2009 that she would renounce her US citizenship. In July, she became the third independent politician in 19 years in Jamaica’s Parliament after leaving the PNP June 28.

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