标签： Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — A post-election political firestorm has erupted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), as former long-ruling Prime Minister and current Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves is sounding the alarm over a controversial proposal from the newly elected government led by Prime Minister Godwin Friday, urging local media to speak out against what he frames as an attack on the country’s core democratic institutions.

Gonsalves, whose Unity Labour Party (ULP) lost the November 27 general elections after holding power for 20 consecutive years, laid out his case in a formal letter sent to media editors across the country, centering his criticism on the government’s plan to amend the SVG Constitution retroactively while two election challenges against Friday and Foreign Affairs Minister Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble are already winding through the judicial system.

The election petitions were filed by defeated ULP candidates, who argue that Friday and Bramble are ineligible to hold their parliamentary seats because they hold Canadian citizenship, a question that hinges on the judiciary’s interpretation of Section 26 of the existing Constitution. That clause bars candidates who have voluntarily sworn allegiance to a foreign power from holding office. Gonsalves, a trained attorney, noted that after the government initially dismissed the legal challenges as “frivolous”, it has now taken the unprecedented step of introducing a retroactive constitutional change that would directly alter the legal landscape mid-litigation, potentially swinging the outcome of the cases in the government’s favor.

Gonsalves emphasized that the foundational democratic principles SVG has long cherished are on the line: the supremacy of the national constitution, the rule of law, and the separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. He pointed out that the government’s maneuver is unprecedented not just in SVG, but across global and Caribbean democratic contexts. While dual citizenship eligibility challenges are common around the world, he said there is no recorded example of a sitting government amending its constitution specifically to sidestep an active court challenge to its own top officials.

The proposed amendment, Gonsalves argued, is being rushed through with just one week’s public notice, no meaningful consultation with either the opposition or the general public, and no formal explanation from either the Prime Minister or the Attorney General. Beyond its opacity, he said the amendment directly undermines the core role of the judiciary, which holds the exclusive constitutional authority to interpret constitutional law. A retroactive change tailored to an ongoing case, he contended, does not merely update the law—it effectively interferes with the administration of justice by predetermining the outcome of a matter properly before the courts.

The government has already pushed back against Gonsalves’ claims. Government legislator and attorney Jemalie John told a local radio program last week that the proposed constitutional changes are not intended to impact the two pending election petitions, and rejected the ULP’s accusation that the New Democratic Party (NDP) government sprung the plan on the public without warning. John clarified that public discussion of the proposal was inevitable after official parliamentary notice was published, per the country’s standing rules.

For Gonsalves, however, the risks stretch far beyond this specific dispute. He argued that the amendment violates long-held legal principles, including the ban on retroactive laws that alter existing rights and the accepted boundaries of parliamentary power to amend the constitution. He added that election petitions are a unique cornerstone of electoral accountability, designed to enforce the law as it existed at the time voters cast their ballots. Changing that framework after the fact erodes legal certainty and public trust in the entire electoral process, he said.

“No responsible democracy should permit the Constitution to be amended in a manner that appears designed to shield individuals from judicial scrutiny in an ongoing case,” Gonsalves wrote. “Constitutional power, however broad, is not without limits. It must be exercised consistently with the fundamental structure and values of the Constitution itself — values which include democracy, the rule of law, and the separation of powers.”

In his appeal to the media, Gonsalves stressed that his call is not a partisan maneuver, but a defense of foundational national principles. He urged the press, which has long played a central role in protecting SVG’s democratic traditions, to use its platform to speak out and pressure the government to abandon the amendment, allowing the courts to rule on the pending petitions based on the law in place when the general election was held.

Gonsalves warned that allowing the government’s move to go unchallenged would set a dangerous precedent for future administrations of any political stripe. “If actions of this nature go unchallenged, they risk establishing a precedent by which any government, present or future, may endlessly revise our Constitution — without public consultation — for personal gain or protection. That would have lasting adverse consequences for our democracy,” he said.

The legal challenge is already moving forward: a case management hearing was held on March 5, with the next proceeding scheduled for May 19, and a full three-day trial set to begin on July 28 this year.

During a recent meet-and-greet gathering in Washington D.C., Godwin Friday, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), made a targeted appeal to Vincentians residing in the United States, positioning members of the national diaspora as the preferred partners for investment in the island nation’s growing economy. The appearance marked part of Friday’s first official trip to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, held after his New Democratic Party (NDP) won national election in November last year.

Friday, who also leads the center-right NDP and holds cabinet portfolios for finance, legal affairs, justice, economic planning and private sector development, laid out the core governing framework for his administration’s economic agenda, which is built on four foundational pillars: traditional agriculture, international tourism, the blue economy encompassing fishing and marina development, and the emerging new economy that includes creative industries, arts and digital innovation. “To bring this vision to life, we need diverse partners, and that is why we have made clear our government is open for business,” Friday stated during his address.

The prime minister was quick to clarify that an open investment policy does not leave the nation vulnerable to exploitation, noting that his administration has assembled a team of highly skilled, experienced policymakers equipped to vet potential investors and distinguish legitimate projects from disreputable schemes. Turning his focus to the diaspora community, he emphasized that overseas Vincentians bring unique value to the table: many have gained valuable professional experience abroad, hold existing capital, or have access to global networks that can be leveraged to drive investment at home.

Friday pointed out that investment by domestic diaspora members avoids common public anxieties that arise when outside foreign entities enter local markets, adding that overseas-born or based Vincentians hold an inherent natural advantage as stakeholders in the nation’s long-term success. In response to this priority, the government has established a formal, structured framework with dedicated channels and mechanisms to streamline diaspora engagement and lower barriers to launching investment projects in SVG. “You are our preferred investors,” Friday reiterated. “Let’s build this partnership together — there is untapped potential across nearly every sector of our economy.”

To further facilitate investment, the government has committed to cutting burdensome red tape and simplifying business registration and operations, with Ambassador for Finance, Climate and Investment Kevin Hope leading the Invest SVG initiative to accelerate priority investment growth. Key opportunities identified by the prime minister span tourism infrastructure, commercial fishing, small and medium enterprise development, and digital business. He also encouraged a modern approach to traditional sectors like agriculture, urging young entrepreneurs to move beyond outdated legacy practices and integrate modern agricultural science to boost productivity and unlock new regional and domestic market opportunities.

Alongside his engagement with the diaspora, Friday’s Washington delegation, which includes Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and Diaspora Affairs Minister Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, has held a packed schedule of consultations with major global financial institutions. The prime minister described the back-to-back meetings as a new, fast-paced learning experience for his first major international trip in office, but emphasized that the delegation came to Washington to deliver results, noting that the week of engagement has already yielded fruitful discussions, new partnerships and expanded existing collaboration with global stakeholders.

In closing his remarks, Friday touched on his governing philosophy, stressing that his administration serves all citizens of SVG, regardless of political affiliation. While he acknowledged that partisan debate plays a healthy role in democracy to hold leaders accountable, he argued that excessive partisan division has held the nation back in the past, and his government is committed to transcending political divides to pursue shared national progress. Focused on delivering on campaign promises to build a better future for younger generations of Vincentians, Friday said he is committed to working daily to deliver on that vision, and reiterated that his core mission as prime minister is to improve national security and quality of life for all SVG citizens.

Nearly five years after the Unity Labour Party (ULP), which held power in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for 25 consecutive years, was voted out of office in November 2021, new details are emerging about the long-term performance of state-owned enterprises that operated under its tenure. The incoming New Democratic Party (NDP) administration has been conducting a quiet, comprehensive review of these public entities, and early findings from the audit point to widespread mismanagement during the previous Ralph Gonsalves-led government.

One of the first entities to face scrutiny is the state-owned Housing and Land Development Corporation (HLDC), a decades-old agency that has operated across successive administrations from both major political parties. Founded to drive planning and development of affordable residential and community land and housing for low-income households across St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the agency has been credited with delivering nearly 1,000 homes to vulnerable families over its 50-year history. It also played a key role in post-disaster recovery efforts, including repairing 40 homes severely damaged by Hurricane Beryl in 2024 and the 2021 eruption of the La Soufrière Volcano, and currently has 140 new housing units, including prefabricated units, in the pipeline or earmarked for construction.

Despite this legacy of public service, the NDP administration’s audit reveals a wide range of critical failures in governance, strategic planning and financial management that have left the HLDC in a fragile position. While the agency’s board of directors meets statutory composition requirements, the report documents persistent underperformance, particularly around meeting attendance. In 2025, board meeting attendance fell far below the average for all state-owned enterprises assessed, with many sessions barely reaching the required quorum to conduct official business.

Beyond attendance issues, the audit found no evidence that the HLDC has ever adopted formal strategic planning, a core function for public entities delivering long-term public services. The agency also fails to produce required annual work plans, and has never published statutory annual reports detailing its programmatic activities, as required by law. Its role in managing public-funded affordable housing projects has also shrunk steadily over time: most major government affordable housing initiatives, such as the flagship “Lives to Live” program, are now contracted directly to private construction firms and managed through the Ministry of Housing, sidelining the HLDC entirely. Today, the agency operates largely as a project manager for privately built middle-income housing developments, collecting only administrative and professional fees for its services, the report concludes.

The most serious violation uncovered by the audit is the HLDC’s 14-year gap in completing legally required financial audits. The agency has not published an audited financial statement since 2012, a violation of Act No. 7 of 1976 that the report calls “an adverse reflection on governance, transparency, and financial hygiene.”

Analysis of the HLDC’s internal management accounts from 2021 to 2025 paints a grim picture of the agency’s financial health. Profitability has swung wildly over the five-year period, with the HLDC posting net losses in three of the five years, and an average negative profit margin of 16% across the full period. Revenue, which is almost entirely generated from project activity, has fluctuated drastically: project revenue hit EC$5 million in 2022, plummeted to just EC$532,000 in 2023, fell to zero in 2024, then rose to EC$7 million in 2025. This volatility drove overall annual revenue from a peak of EC$7.33 million in 2022 to just EC$796,663 in 2024, before recovering partially to EC$4.35 million in 2025. Annual net results mirrored this instability: a EC$240,632 profit in 2021, a EC$61,444 loss in 2022, a EC$652,697 profit in 2023, a EC$813,447 loss in 2024, and a EC$209,675 loss in 2025.

As of the end of 2025, the HLDC carries EC$6 million in overdue accounts payable, indicating the agency has consistently failed to settle its outstanding bills by their required due dates. The audit also uncovered a EC$9 million balance in deferred interest on a loan restructured with St. Vincent Cooperative Bank back in 2014; under the restructuring agreement, only principal payments have been made, with all interest payments pushed back, leading to the massive accumulated balance.

While the report notes that the HLDC maintained adequate liquidity over the 2021-2025 review period, with enough current assets to cover short-term obligations, the situation has deteriorated sharply in recent years. By 2025, the agency’s liquidity ratio was barely above the regulatory benchmark, leaving no buffer to absorb unexpected financial shocks. Balance sheet strength has also weakened significantly: shareholders’ equity fell 40% from EC$5 million in 2023 to just EC$3 million at the end of 2025, eroded by annual operating losses and accumulated deficits, leaving taxpayers with a negative return on their public investment.

The HLDC is not the only state-owned enterprise under review by the NDP administration. While an anonymous source with knowledge of the review process declined to name all entities currently being assessed, the source confirmed that the National Lotteries Authority is also part of the audit, noting that preliminary details about the authority’s performance have already been reported in other local media outlets.

While the audit acknowledges that the HLDC has made meaningful contributions to socioeconomic progress, expanding affordable housing access and supporting social inclusion for low-income communities across the country over its decades of operation, it also makes clear that urgent structural and financial reforms are needed to restore the agency to functional, transparent public service.

A high-profile political dispute has erupted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines over a proposed constitutional amendment, with a former opposition senator bringing forward a years-old allegation of improper legislative maneuvering by current Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party (ULP).

Kay Bacchus-Baptiste, a former New Democratic Party (NDP) senator and electoral candidate, made the claims while responding to ULP criticism of the sitting NDP government’s plan to amend the constitution to clarify candidate qualification requirements for public office. The controversy comes as the ULP has challenged the eligibility of two sitting NDP politicians — Prime Minister Godwin Friday, who has held a parliamentary seat since 2001, and East Kingstown Member of Parliament Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, who won re-election to a second five-year term — ahead of the November 27, 2025 general election.

The ULP’s two petitions, set for a joint hearing from July 28 to 30, argue that Friday and Bramble are disqualified from running for office because they voluntarily obtained Canadian citizenship, a claim that turns on the interpretation of existing constitutional language around candidate eligibility.

Bacchus-Baptiste acknowledged that the NDP’s amendment proposal comes while the court cases are pending, but pushed back against ULP claims that the change is an improper attempt to influence the legal outcome. To counter the accusation, she recalled a 2000s incident when she and fellow activist Nicole Sylvester brought a legal challenge against a Gonsalves-led ULP government’s EC$1 levy on passengers traveling to the Grenadines via the main ferry terminal.

At the time, Bacchus-Baptiste explained, the ULP administration imposed the fee without any legal authority to collect the charge. When the legal team prepared to file for an injunction to block the collection, the ULP rushed through a new regulation overnight to retroactively legalize the tax — directly pre-empting the court hearing.

“When we were preparing to go to court the morning to deal with the injunction that we were applying for, we were presented with this regulation that they woke up the printery and got it done overnight, the minister, and presented it to us, effectively to bar our injunction,” Bacchus-Baptiste told iWitness News.

The case was appealed to the Court of Appeal but never received a hearing, she said. The fee was eventually withdrawn after Gonsalves faced public pressure to drop the charge, leading Bacchus-Baptiste’s team to withdraw their appeal as the core issue was resolved. Bacchus-Baptiste said the incident proves Gonsalves is fully aware of the tactic of changing legislation to defeat pending court cases — the very action the ULP is now accusing the NDP of taking.

However, the former senator emphasized that the NDP’s current proposal is fundamentally different from the ULP’s 2000s overnight regulatory change. St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ existing electoral law already requires candidates to hold Commonwealth citizenship to run for office, she explained. The amendment only fills a gap in the constitution’s definition section, rather than changing the existing eligibility rule. The clarification, she argued, has long been needed and is not an attempt to alter the rules of the election mid-stream.

Bacchus-Baptiste also noted that the NDP’s current position on the constitutional language aligns with the party’s stance in 2009, when it campaigned against the ULP’s proposed constitutional changes. At that time, Gonsalves and his ULP administration campaigned in favor of the amendments, arguing that the changes would enshrine the right of any Commonwealth citizen residing in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to run for public office, a position consistent with the NDP’s current clarification push.

A long-running political dispute over a parliamentary seat in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has taken a new turn, as defeated opposition candidate Luke Browne has publicly stated he is ready to take office if the courts nullify the 2025 general election victory of ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) incumbent Dwight Fitzgerald “Fitz” Bramble.

Browne, a former senator and health minister from the opposition Unity Labour Party (ULP), has lost four consecutive attempts to win the East Kingstown parliamentary seat, with the 2025 poll marking his poorest performance to date. Held on November 27, 2025, the election saw Bramble secure a second five-year term by a margin of 1,001 votes to Browne’s count. Official vote breakdowns show that while Bramble earned 172 more votes in 2025 than he did in his 2010 debut run, Browne received 582 fewer votes than in the 2020 election, even as total turnout dropped by 405 votes overall.

Now, Browne and the ULP have filed an election petition arguing Bramble is constitutionally ineligible to hold the seat, because Bramble holds Canadian citizenship. Under St. Vincent and the Grenadines law, candidates who acknowledge allegiance to a foreign power are barred from serving in Parliament, a charge Browne says applies to Bramble, who obtained citizenship through his own voluntary action. The challenge is not isolated: ULP candidate Carlos Williams has filed a parallel petition against Prime Minister Godwin Friday, who defeated Williams to secure a sixth consecutive term in the Northern Grenadines constituency. Friday won that race by a landslide margin of 1,846 votes, earning 2,185 votes to Williams’ 339.

In an interview broadcast on Hot 97 FM Friday, Browne addressed widespread questions about the legal challenge, confirming he would accept an automatic appointment to the East Kingstown seat if the court rules in his favor, rather than pushing for a new by-election. Browne’s legal position holds that any candidate who was unqualified to run in the first place cannot legally be declared the winner, regardless of election day results. He analogized the situation to Olympic competition: if a race winner is later disqualified for breaking competition rules, the second-place finisher is elevated to champion status by default.

“There’s a good chance that they will be the automatic seating of Carlos Williams and myself,” Browne said during the interview, noting that he would accept the court’s outcome without objection. When pressed on whether he would feel comfortable taking a seat voters did not explicitly award him on election day, Browne pushed back, arguing that he was the only qualified candidate on the East Kingstown ballot. “The people had a right to vote for any of the qualified candidates on election day. It so happens that I was the only qualified candidate in East Kingstown,” he explained.

Browne rejected claims that he is relying on technicalities to seize power, insisting his challenge is rooted in upholding existing constitutional rules. He also hit back at the NDP government’s planned constitutional amendment, scheduled to be introduced to Parliament next Tuesday, which would clarify the legal definition of “foreign power or state”. Browne accuses the NDP of rushing to rewrite the rules after the election to protect its two MPs if the court rules against them. “What they are seeking to do is, by any means necessary, change the rules of the game after the fact,” he said.

The former health minister emphasized that he has always accepted past election outcomes and moved forward, but he is exercising his clear constitutional right to challenge ineligible candidates. He added that if the roles were reversed, the NDP would take the exact same legal action he is pursuing now. The ULP has repeatedly stated that the planned amendment is nothing more than a last-minute insurance policy for the ruling party’s vulnerable elected officials.

A long-simmering constitutional debate over candidate eligibility for general elections in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has entered a critical new phase, with the newly elected New Democratic Party (NDP) government moving to codify a clarification that directly contradicts a dramatic shift in position by former prime minister Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party (ULP).

The controversy traces back to the 2009 constitutional referendum, when Gonsalves, then serving as prime minister, openly acknowledged that SVG’s founding constitution allowed any Commonwealth citizen — not just native-born or naturalized Vincentians — to qualify as a candidate in national general elections. At the time, Gonsalves pushed voters to approve constitutional changes that would narrow that eligibility, a position the NDP, then the opposition, campaigned against vigorously. The referendum was soundly defeated, leaving the original Commonwealth citizen eligibility rule intact.

Now, 16 years later, the political landscape has flipped dramatically. After Gonsalves’ 25-year incumbent ULP government was defeated in the November 2025 general election, the former leader has reversed his 2009 stance. He now claims Commonwealth nations qualify as “foreign powers”, and has challenged the eligibility of two top NDP officials — Prime Minister Godwin Friday, who has represented Northern Grenadines in Parliament since 2001, and Foreign Affairs Minister Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, first elected as MP for East Kingstown in 2020 — on the grounds that both hold Canadian citizenship obtained through their own application. The ULP has filed two electoral petitions, which are scheduled to go to trial in June, asking the courts to remove the two officials from their parliamentary seats.

In response to the legal challenge, the NDP, which won a 14-1 supermajority in Parliament after the 2025 election, has brought forward a constitutional amendment for a parliamentary vote scheduled for Tuesday. The amendment would formally add a definition of “foreign power” to the constitution’s interpretation section, explicitly stating that a foreign power is any state that is not a member of the Commonwealth. Because the change only affects the definition section, not an entrenched core provision of the constitution, no new public referendum is required to enact it, and the amendment is all but guaranteed to pass given the NDP’s overwhelming parliamentary control.

Kay Bacchus-Baptiste, a prominent constitutional lawyer and former NDP senator, has defended the government’s move, framing it as a long-overdue clarification rather than a substantive rewrite of the nation’s supreme law. Speaking to iWitness News earlier this week, she noted that the 2009 referendum result, which defeated all proposed constitutional changes, confirmed that the Vincentian public intended to keep the original Commonwealth citizen eligibility rule in place. She pointed out that the original constitution’s definition section never explicitly defined the term “foreign power”, even as the core text clearly restricts eligible candidates to Commonwealth citizens.

“‘Commonwealth citizen’ is a clear definition,” Bacchus-Baptiste said. “Canada is part of the Commonwealth. So, it is clear. The law says that you have to be a Commonwealth citizen, which is different from the constitutions of other Caribbean nations like Dominica and St. Kitts, which restrict candidates to their own citizens.”
Bacchus-Baptiste emphasized that Gonsalves’ own words from 2009 confirm that the original interpretation has long been understood: back then, Gonsalves himself acknowledged that any Commonwealth citizen with one year of residence in SVG could run for office, and campaigned to change that rule. She called the current ULP argument a complete reversal of the party’s long-stated position.

“In our law, it says a Commonwealth citizen. That alone is a massive distinction that would be difficult to get over. And I do agree that enough has been said, and it should be clarified, because even Dr. Gonsalves himself had said that a Commonwealth citizen can run; he had said it over and over and wanted to amend it. Now he’s changing his mind or pretending that that is not what the law says,” she said. “It says that, and I commend this government for clarifying it by simply including in the definition section something that was omitted. That is what they’re doing and I commend them.”

Gonsalves and ULP spokespeople have pushed back against the amendment, accusing the NDP government of enacting an “insurance policy” to pre-emptively protect its officials from a potential unfavorable court ruling in the upcoming petitions. In an about-face from his position during the 2015 post-election legal challenges brought by the NDP, Gonsalves said in an April 15 interview with Star Radio that the courts should be allowed to issue an independent ruling on the eligibility petitions.

As bilateral diplomatic ties between Taiwan and St. Vincent and the Grenadines mark their 45-year milestone, the Caribbean nation’s acting prime minister St. Clair Leacock has reaffirmed the long-standing partnership while publicly pushing for Taiwanese financial support for a new grassroots development program.

Leacock made his remarks during celebrations that included a joint parade by a visiting Taiwanese naval squadron and the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, held in Arnos Vale. Speaking directly to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, Leacock referenced a private conversation the two held during his official visit to Taipei earlier this year – the first cabinet-level visit from St. Vincent and the Grenadines since the New Democratic Party won national elections in November 2025, when Leacock led a four-member delegation to the island.

Opening his address, Leacock praised the four-and-a-half decades of collaboration between the two sides, noting that geographic distance has never weakened their close friendship, in line with the proverb that distance never separates true family and friends. Over the years, Taiwan has contributed to key infrastructure projects including bridges, roads and hospitals in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and provided agricultural support and educational scholarships for local students.

However, Leacock stressed that significant development challenges remain for the small Caribbean nation. Acknowledging that widespread poverty persists across the country, he argued that existing assistance has not fully addressed grassroots economic needs. For nearly 20 years, Leacock – who also serves as the Member of Parliament for Central Kingstown – has championed the creation of a national constituency development fund, which would give elected representatives direct resources to address local needs and create sustained job opportunities for their constituents.

He explained that the most frequent request he receives from local residents is for greater economic autonomy and more work opportunities, rather than relying on ad-hoc political assistance. The constituency development fund, he argues, would empower local representatives to deliver sustained support directly to communities, putting financial resources directly into the hands of constituents to reduce poverty and drive local growth. Leacock said he remains confident that Taiwan will agree to contribute to the new fund, repeating his appeal to President Lai three times to provide the urgently needed financing to help St. Vincent and the Grenadines achieve its national development goals.

Leacock also added that the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines remains deeply grateful for Taiwan’s long-standing support, noting that many Vincentian students who have taken up Taiwanese scholarships have chosen to build their careers in Taiwan, while the government hopes that expanded opportunities at home will encourage more graduates to return and contribute to national development.