Outside the High Court in Kingstown following Wednesday’s proceedings for the consolidated election eligibility petitions, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Godwin Friday shared unwavering optimism that his legal team will secure a favorable ruling, nearly eight months after his New Democratic Party (NDP) secured a landslide 14-1 parliamentary majority in last November’s general election.
Speaking exclusively to local outlet iWitness News, Friday noted he felt “very good” after the first day of his legal team’s oral submissions, led by prominent Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan. He emphasized that his legal representatives had meticulously mapped out both the nuanced legal frameworks and contextual political considerations tied to the high-stakes case, delivering their arguments with exceptional rigor throughout the full day of court proceedings. Ramlogan is set to wrap up the defense’s submissions on Thursday, after which presiding Justice Gertel Thom will deliberate on the final ruling.
The two linked petitions at the heart of the case were filed by defeated opposition Unity Labour Party (ULP) candidates: Augustus Carlos Williams, who challenged Friday’s eligibility for the Northern Grenadines seat, and Luke Browne, who filed a parallel petition against sitting Minister of Foreign Affairs Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, the MP for East Kingstown. Both legal challenges argue that Friday and Bramble are disqualified from holding parliamentary office under Section 26(1)(a) of the national Constitution, on the grounds that they voluntarily obtained Canadian citizenship.
Friday, who has held the Northern Grenadines parliamentary seat continuously since 2001 and secured his sixth consecutive term last November with a resounding 2,185 votes compared to Williams’ 339, stressed that he and Bramble have long viewed this constitutional challenge as a straightforward, legally uncomplicated matter. He pointed to their decades of successive electoral victories, each won with expanding popular majorities, as evidence that the electorate has repeatedly validated their status as legitimate representatives.
While acknowledging the gravity of the court proceedings and noting he prioritizes showing full respect to the judicial process by attending all sessions in person rather than returning to his official duties, Friday expressed eagerness for the case to reach a swift conclusion. He also clarified that he did not raise the ongoing petitions with any Commonwealth heads of government during his recent attendance at the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda, framing the dispute as an entirely domestic affair for the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to resolve through their national judicial system.
In a direct message to the opposition petitioners, Friday struck a resolute tone, noting that the will of the electorate had already been clearly expressed at the November polls. “The people of this country have a right to be governed by the government that they choose,” he stated. “I know it hurts, but you got to take your licks.” He reaffirmed his full confidence that the defense team’s evidence-based, legally sound submissions would lead to a full dismissal of the petitions and confirm the legitimacy of his government’s popular mandate.