Hay-Webster rips PNP - Embattled MP resigns from party, but hangs on to seat
Published:Wednesday | June 29, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
THIRD-TERM Member of Parliament Sharon Hay-Webster has bashed the People's National Party (PNP), declaring that it was not allowing her due process in her dual-citizenship dilemma.
The South Central St Catherine representative, who resigned from the party yesterday and will now sit in the House of Representatives as an independent member, said the Portia Simpson Miller-led PNP has lost its way.
"Notwithstanding the fact that the PNP, in my view, has diverged from the values of Norman Manley and Michael Manley, that of nation building, capacity building and seeking to safeguard the interest of the less fortunate, I am genuinely appreciative of the opportunity that the PNP has allowed me to serve the party, the country and on the international scene," Hay-Webster said in her resignation letter.
In the letter, addressed to Simpson Miller, Hay-Webster said: "It is regrettable that the party has refused to stand with me or give adequate consideration to the fact that due process must be allowed to take its course."
Properly nominated
She said various legal advice suggested she was properly nominated to be elected to Parliament in 2007 and that her dual-citizenship case was different from those ruled on by the courts.
Under the Constitution, no person who, by his/her own act, is under an acknowledgement of allegiance to a foreign power can serve as a parliamentarian. Hay-Webster has maintained she is not under an acknowledgement of allegiance to the United States. Her case is the subject of a constitutional motion in the courts.
The PNP, however, left little doubt that The Gleaner's revelation, through whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, of a US diplomatic cable last month - which alleged Hay-Webster withdrew her renunciation letter but left the impression that she had given up her US citizenship - had caused the party to come down hard on her.
"The party came to the conclusion that Mrs Hay-Webster's tenure as a member of parliament was untenable and, as such, discussions were focused on and centred around her resignation as a member of parliament," the PNP said in a statement last night.
The PNP also said it held numerous discussions with Hay-Webster about resolving the issues related to her status and that the discussions "intensified after the public revelation of information related to her status as a US citizen, which was unknown to the party at the time".
Hay-Webster, who was born in the US and came to Jamaica as a baby, lamented that despite her family's 35-year association and her 20-odd years of service to the party, the attitude of the PNP towards her was inconsistent with the "core values of our founders and the level of service which I have provided over the years".
However, the PNP said despite the numerous discussions held with Hay-Webster, "she never raised any issue of the party's alleged divergence from its mission or core values".