One of the key electoral issues attracting attention in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) these days is the possibility of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister Godwin Friday being kicked out of office because he holds dual Canadian and Vincentian citizenship. In the other, Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has named Thursday, November 5, as the date for general elections in the federation with Petite Martinique and Carriacou.
However, even as Mitchell announced the date at a major rally on Sunday, all attention is being paid to a landmark court battle in St. Vincent and the Grenadines where Friday and Foreign Minister Fitz Bramble are fighting for their political futures — both are sitting in cabinet and parliament positions while holding Canadian passports and citizenship. For a lawmaker to hold dual citizenship is frowned on in the constitutions of most of the member states of the 15-nation bloc, especially if becoming a foreign citizen requires the applicant to swear allegiance to the foreign power. Both leaders have admitted in court that they had to swear allegiance to Canada, but both also contend that the local constitution allows for a candidate who is also a Commonwealth citizen to hold dual citizenship and still be a local lawmaker. Based on arguments in the case, this is the main issue that Justice Gertel Thom will have to consider when hearings resume on November 10 and when she makes her ruling thereafter.
Arguments by attorneys for the petitioner and the respondents wrapped up in the capital last week and the teams will be required to make their closing arguments on November 10. Should the judge rule that their election to the parliament was illegally done, that would be nullified and the prime minister would be forced to step down, because only an elected lawmaker can run the country. The two would also have to compete in a special election to win back their seats, but that can only be the case if the court rules that they would have to renounce their Canadian citizenships.
Friday’s legal team, led by former Trinidad Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, argues that the constitution allows for a local who is also a Commonwealth citizen to be eligible to be a parliamentarian and, by extension, a cabinet member. The petitioner’s team, led by former Trinidadian Prime Minister and attorney Stuart Young, contends that swearing allegiance to a foreign power is unconstitutional and disqualifies the PM and Bramble from holding office. The New Democratic Party (NDP) holds all but one of the 15 seats in elections held in late November last year.
As both sides rested their case last week, both legal teams exuded confidence, with Friday joining in as well, even though he could lose his job and be forced to compete in a fresh election to retain his head of government position.
“I’m very satisfied based on how things are going and I am well-satisfied,” Friday said outside the courtroom. “You saw what the result was in the election. The people were waiting for the opportunity to bring about change in this country. We have been elected to deliver that change and nothing is going to stop us from doing so. Our job is to rep the people of this country to the best of our ability and we will do so. There are naysayers and there are people who can’t take their licks and who are going to raise all kinds of obstacles in the way, but ultimately, on November 27 last year, the people made their decision.“
Stuart Young told reporters that “we come back in November for the judge to decide in this very important case, but I have to say, from the petitioner’s point of view, that we could not have asked for a better week with our cross-examination of the respondent’s witnesses. We feel very, very confident from an evidence point of view.”
Meanwhile, Mitchell in neighboring Grenada has called a general election for early next month, giving the main opposition New National Party (NNP) a mere four weeks for intensified campaigning. Mitchell’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) holds nine of the 15 seats. A political carrot being offered to voters has to do with renewed efforts in the coming months to attract oil and gas explorers to the country, just as neighbors Guyana, Trinidad, and Venezuela have done with great success in recent decades.
“The fact that we announce the date [on October 4] is a clear indication that we’ve been preparing and know what we have, and in a sense, I think we’ve been preparing for the last four years,” Mitchell said. “I think we’ve worked hard. We’ve tried to be accessible, we’ve tried to be accountable, we’ve tried to deliver on the things in our mandate. Now it’s time to go back to the people and get their validation on this.”
