KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday appeared unbothered as he exited the High Court here on Thursday following a case management session occasioned by the challenge to his and Foreign Affairs Minister, Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble’s victory in the November 27 general elections last year.
“Yeah. It’s a beautiful day,” he told reporters, adding, “it is a wonderful day. Look at the sunshine,” raising his hand to the sky and then directing the media to his lead counsel, the former Trinidad and Tobago attorney general, Anand Ramlogan SC.
The main opposition Unity Labour Party (ULP) is challenging the electoral victory of Friday and Bramble, saying their Canadian citizenship bars them from qualifying as candidates for election to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Parliament.
Friday has been the parliamentary representative for the Northern Grenadines constituency since 2001, while Bramble is in his second five-year term as Member of Parliament for East Kingstown.
Ramlogan described the case management hearing as “an interesting, if not amusing experience.
“The mandate given to the newly elected prime minister is overwhelming, and this is an attempt by the petitioners to effect change, other than by the democratic process,” he said.
Friday led the New Democratic Party (NDP) to a 14-1 victory over the ULP, which had been in office since March 2001.
The NDP also won 10,055 more votes than the ULP in the polls, registering the strongest electoral victory by a political party since the NDP won all 15 seats in 1989.
“The mandate is such that we are extremely confident that these election petitions will be dealt with swiftly, and they will be given the due care and attention that they deserve. But as you can see from the Honourable Prime Minister and the Attorney General’s faces, they don’t look too worried or troubled by it,” Ramlogan added.
Friday and Attorney General Louise Mitchell smiled as their lawyer spoke to the media.
Ramlogan said the next hearing in the matter is slated for May 19, ahead of the trial scheduled for July 28-30.
“In the meantime, we’ve got to file evidence and comply with certain case management directions. We fixed the trial window because the Prime Minister is anxious to get on with this matter.
“He’s instructed me through his Attorney General to lead with this matter swiftly and expeditiously. So, we have fixed a trial date for the last week of July, and we expect to get on with this matter and press on, as the prime minister does not wish to be distracted by it. He wants to tend to the people’s business, to ensure that he attends to matters of state,” Ramlogan told reporters.
Former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Stuart Young SC, who is leading the attorneys for the ULP, told reporters that the court’s verdict on the issue is very important.
“Well, this matter for Vincentians is a serious matter, and what is being determined by the court really is an interpretation of your constitutional provisions and the qualification, or the disqualification to stand as a candidate for elections.
“So it’s quite an important provision that is finally going to be determined by the court,” Young said, adding that the judge has set “a tight time frame and timeline” that will see the trial taking place on July 28 to 30.
“But it is important because it is going to set the future and finally, determine and interpret the disqualification provisions of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Constitution, and in particular, by having citizenship from Canada, how does that affect one’s ability to qualify to run for elections in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,” Young said.
He was asked to comment on the ruling of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on similar matters, including in St. Kitts and Nevis, where the court ruled that former prime minister Denzil Douglas, who held a diplomatic passport from Dominica, was barred from contesting elections in Basseterre.
“The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Constitution has some similarities, but there are also certain differences,” Young said, adding, “so it’s important that this matter be determined for the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
“There will be authorities from other jurisdictions that will be relied on by both sides. It’s an extremely experienced judge that we are before, so we’re fortunate with that,” he said, telling reporters that he was “not going to preempt anything here”.
The ULP’s Northern Grenadines candidate in the November 2025 polls, Augustus Carlos Williams, is challenging the nomination of Friday, as well as the actions of the returning officer, Devon Ollivierre, and the Supervisor of Elections, Dora James.
As is the case with these types of matters, the attorney general is also a respondent.
In the second matter, Luke Browne is challenging Bramble’s nomination and the action of the returning officer, Jacqueline Browne, the supervisor of elections, and the attorney general in that regard.
In the lead-up to the November vote, the ULP had urged voters not to cast ballots for Friday and Bramble, saying their votes would be wasted. The party also announced that it would challenge their nomination to participate in the polls, given that they allegedly hold Canadian citizenship.
Ramlogan and Young are among five non-national lawyers retained in the case.
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