Defiant PM Dr Friday says election petition matter is “frivolous”

By Admin. Updated 6:49 a.m., Thursday, March 5, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4). 

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dr. Godwin Friday has described as “frivolous” the application to hear election petitions which question his eligibility to run for office based on dual citizenship grounds.

Speaking to SVGTV News outside the High Court in Kingstown, Dr Friday said: “This is taking public time, public resources. I’m a busy person. I’m the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The people elected me to do their business. I’m spending two hours in the court here answering a frivolous application.”

The prime minister said there’s going to be cost to the state and there is going to be using of court’s time. He said the persons who are initiating this process, including those who are doing it now and those who are behind it, are going to be accountable for it.

“So, you ask me if we want to pursue costs? I promise you we will do so vigorously,” he said in response to a journalist’s question.

The High Court, this morning (February 5), ordered the Supervisor of Elections to to disclose nomination papers and statutory declarations for Dr. Godwin Friday and Mr. Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble in the election petition case within seven days.

The court will be convened on July 28 for trial where arguments for both the claimants and the defendants will be heard.  

The matters before the court 

The two principal matters are election petitions brought by Unity Labour Party (ULP) candidates Mr. Carlos Williams (Northern Grenadines) and Mr. Luke Browne (East Kingstown).

In the Northern Grenadines case, Mr. Aguatus Carlos Williams chiefly represented by Al Eliot of AC Elliot Attorneys is challenging the nomination of Dr. Godwin Friday. Former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Stuart Young (who made an application to be admitted to the Bar in SVG) and former member of Parliament for North Leeward, Mr. Carlos James are also on the legal team representing Mr. Williams. 

He names as defendants Dr. Friday, Returning Officer Devon Ollivierre, Supervisor of Elections Dora James, and the Attorney General. Dr. Friday has held the seat consecutively since March 28, 2001. During the 2025 campaign, then Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves accused him of retaining Canadian citizenship while contesting office in SVG.

Dr. Friday’s defence team comprises attorneys Zhinga Horne Edwards, Samantha Robertson, and Gabrielle Myers. Also on the legal team is former Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General Mr. Anand Ramlogan, a lawyer from the UK and two other lawyers from Trinidad and Tobago who applied to be part of the Bar in SVG. 

In the East Kingstown petition, Mr. Luke Browne is contesting the nomination of Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, the elected Member of Parliament and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Defendants include Mr. Bramble, Returning Officer Jacqueline Browne, Supervisor of Elections Dora James, and the Attorney General.

The petition accuses Mr. Bramble who resided in Canada of holding Canadian citizenship while running in the November 2025 election. Mr. Bramble first won the seat in 2020, succeeding former New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Arnhim Eustace.

Mr. Browne is represented by Al Eliot of A.C. Elliot Attorneys, while Mr. Bramble’s team includes Shirlan Barnwell, Samantha Robertson, and Gabrielle Myers.

Constitutional Context

In court, both Dr. Friday and Mr. Bramble acknowledged that they hold Canadian citizenship by virtue of their own act.

Commonwealth citizens who meet certain requirements can serve in Parliament. However, a debated grey area highlighted by legal scholars during the 2025 election campaign concerns whether Commonwealth citizens who actively acquired dual citizenship “by virtue of their own act” may legally be nominated as candidates. The question has further surrounded the alliegiances to “foreign powers” of office holders who have dual citizenship. 

This is not the first such case before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court involving dual citizenship claims against elected representatives.

In St. Kitts and Nevis, in March 2020, then opposition leader Dr. Denzil Douglas was required to vacate his seat in the National Assembly after the Court of Appeal ruled that his acquisition and use of a diplomatic passport from Dominica was an unconstitutional acknowledgement of an allegiance to a foreign state.

Political Background 

The cases arise amid the NDP’s landslide victory in November 2025, securing 14 of 15 parliamentary seats with over 37,000 votes to the ULP’s 27,000 plus.

In some circles, the involvement of high-profile Trinidadian counsel may cause some members of the public to reminisce on the 2025 campaign rhetoric alleging Trinidadian political influence, particularly over a private housing transaction involving the Gonsalves family. In other circles, it may be seen as the services of qualified Caribbean lawyers being sought after to advise on a landmark constitutional case.

Justice Gertel Thom presided over today’s session.

END