GOLDING
JAMAICA LABOUR Party (JLP) leader Bruce Golding has been elected the new Member of Parliament for the West Kingston constituency, but that does not mean he will be entering the House of Representatives to participate in the 2005/2006 Budget Debate just yet.
According to the Represen-tation of the People Act, the winner of an election must wait at least seven days after the final count before he can be officially endorsed as such.
The matter is addressed in Section 49(1) of the act, which states: "The returning officer upon the seventh day next following that upon which he has made the final count of or ascertained the number of votes given for each candidate, shall transmit to the Chief Electoral Officer (a) the election writ with his return in the form set out in the Second Schedule endorsed thereon that the candidate having the majority of votes has been duly elected."
That means that, if all is done by the book, Mr. Golding will have to wait until at least April 20 before he can be officially sworn in as MP and then take over as Opposition Leader from Dr. Ken Baugh.
But with the Opposition Leader scheduled to make his contribution to the Budget Debate on April 21, the JLP leader could still make it into the debate without affecting the line-up.
That is, of course, unless the election results are challenged within four days of the final count.
According to the act, the election results can be challenged within four days after the returning officer has declared a candidate elected, triggering a magisterial recount.
The resident magistrate must appoint a time within four days after the challenge, to recount the votes.
Robert Hart
