Prime Minister Godwin Friday has made light of the two petitions filed by candidates of the opposition Unity Labour Party (ULP) challenging his election and that of his foreign minister, Fitz Bramble, in the Nov. 27 general election.
Carlos Williams, who lost his deposit for a second general election as he sought to unseat Friday as MP for Northern Grenadines, and Luke Browne, who failed in his fourth bid to win East Kingstown, filed the two petitions on Thursday.
They are asking the court to rule that Friday and Bramble were not qualified to be nominated to contest the election because of their Canadian citizenship.
Both Friday and Bramble were born in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and acquired Canadian citizenship as adults.
The ULP has argued that in doing so, they acknowledge allegiance to a foreign power, contrary to the Constitution of SVG.
However, the two candidates have argued that the Constitution makes special accommodation for Commonwealth citizens, including allowing them to contest elections in SVG, even if they are not Vincentian citizens.
The prime minister has been MP for the Northern Grenadines since 2001, while Bramble was first elected in 2020 and is in his second term as MP for East Kingstown.
The NDP won 14 of the 15 parliamentary seats in the Nov. 27 elections, thereby ending 24 years of ULP reign.
On Friday, iWitness News asked the prime minister for a comment on the petitions.
“Well, what I would say … is that this is the Christmas season. The people gave us an overwhelming mandate, even after they campaigned about all the things that they wanted to raise, which I suppose they will raise in their petition,” the prime minister said.
“We are here to serve the people. This is the Christmas season. Today is VAT-free shopping day, and the Grinch will not steal this Christmas from the people. OK? That is what I have to say about that,” the prime minister said as he chuckled.
Friday was speaking to iWitness News under a gallery in Kingstown as Vincentians cashed in on deals on the country’s first VAT-free shopping day since the tax was introduced in 2007.
VAT-free shopping twice a year was among some of the promises the NDP made to Vincentians as part of efforts to counter what it said was a cost-of-living crisis in the country.
Well done Dr Friday. People first. Everything else takes it’s place.