Chief Minister Reuben Meade. *Photo credit: portalestoria.net

BRADES, Montserrat, CMC – Chief Minister Reuben Meade returns to court Friday to find out if he will be allowed to continue serving as a lawmaker in the Legislative Council.

Meade, who led the Movement for Change and Prosperity (MCAP) to victory at the last general election in September, faces a challenge filed by newspaper editor Bennette Roach, who argues that he was not eligible to contest the poll.

In his petition, Roach who failed to win a seat as an independent candidate, said Meade did not did not satisfy constitutional requirements on Nomination Day. Supervisor of Elections Claudette Weekes and Sir Howard Fergus, who served as the returning officer, are also listed as respondents to the petition.

The island’s constitution prohibits persons who are shareholders and directors of companies that have contracts with the government from contesting a seat in the legislature without first disclosing such interest at least one month prior to the election.

“The First Defendant [Meade] was at all material times a manager of the company L&M Construction Inc and thus incapacitated from being elected a member of the Legislative Council in the said election,” Roach stated in the petition filed in the High Court on September 29.

However, Meade, who previously served as Chief Minister from 1991-1996, has maintained that he has given up his stake in the construction firm he formed several years ago and was not running the company at the time of his nomination.

The matter came up in the High Court on October 15 but was postponed because Roach and his lawyer were not present. The presiding judge said the decision to postpone the matter was taken because there was no record to show that they were properly advised that the case had been called.

Electoral officials rejected two similar challenges against the validity of Meade’s candidacy during the campaign for the poll.