Jaundy Martin was sworn in as attorney general in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) on Friday, for a second stint, replacing Grenville Williams, who is expected to be nominated on Monday as a candidate in the Nov. 27 general election.
The swearing-in took place at the Government House in Monstrose and was presided over by Governor General, Dame Susan Dougan.
Martin has returned to the post he vacated on Nov. 4, 2022, after five years as the government’s chief legal advisor.
He is expected to be a placeholder until a new attorney general is sworn in after the Nov. 27 general election, as Parliament was dissolved on Oct. 28.
Martin was attorney general when the Cabinet imposed the vaccine mandate, resulting in hundreds of public sector workers losing their jobs for failing to take a COVID-19 vaccine in November 2021.
The public sector union took the government to court and won, but that judgment was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal is expected to hear argument next week on whether to send the matter to the London-based Privy Council, SVG’s higest court, for final determination.
Williams is vacating the post, which he took up on Nov. 4, 2022, as he prepares to make his first bid to be elected an MP.
He will represent the ruling party as he makes his first bid against the opposition New Democratic Party’s (NDP) Nigel “Nature” Stephenson, who is bidding for a fourth consecutive five-year term in office.
The ULP is seeking an unprecedented sixth consecutive term in office after winning the 2020 elections, nine seats to the NDP’s six, one more than in the two previous Parliaments.