Former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Stuart Richard Young, is among five overseas lawyers who will be called to the Bar in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday, as the court holds the first hearing in the legal challenges to the election of Prime Minister Godwin Friday and Foreign Minister Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble.
Young was the eighth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, serving from March 17 to April 28, 2025, when his People’s National Movement was voted out of office, losing to the United National Congress.
He will be among the lawyers representing members of the opposition Unity Labour Party (ULP), who are challenging the election of the two government MPs, members of the New Democratic Party, because they also hold Canadian citizenship.
A High Court document suggests that lawyers Kate Quincy Temple–Mabe, of England, and Anand Ramlogan S.C., Vishal Siewsaran, Vishal Siewsaran and Ganesh Saroop, of Trinidad and Tobago, will represent Friday, Bramble and the other government officials who are being sued.
Agustus Carlos Williams is challenging the nomination of Friday in the Nov. 27 general election as well as the action of the returning office, Devon Ollivierre, and the Supervisor of Elections, Dora James, in that regard.
As is the case with these types of matters, the attorney general is also a respondent.
The defendants are represented by lawyers Zhinga Horne-Edwards, Samantha Robertson, and Gabrielle Myers.
In the second matter, Luke Browne is challenging Bramble’s nomination and the action of the returning officer, Jacqueline Browne, the supervisor of elections and the attorney general in that regard.
The defendants’ lawyers are Shirlan “Zita” Barnwell, Samantha Robertson and Gabrielle Myers.
In the lead-up to the November vote, the ULP had urged voters not to cast ballots for Friday and Bramble, saying those votes would be wasted.
The party also announced that it would challenge their nomination to participate in the polls, given that they allegedly hold Canadian citizenship.
Friday has been an MP since 2001 and Bramble is in his second five-year term as MP for East Kingstown, having been first elected in November 2020.
They have both maintained that the Constitution permits them to sit as MPs while holding Canadian citizenship, claiming that the supreme law in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is different in this regard.
Williams lost his deposit on his second attempt to wrest the Northern Grenadines seat from Friday, who amassed 2,185 votes, compared to Williams’ 339, even as 11 ballots were rejected.
Browne performed better in East Kingstown, although he failed to win the seat for the fourth consecutive time.
He attracted 1,727 votes — 1,001 fewer than Bramble — while 19 ballots were rejected.
The NDP won the election by taking 14 of the 15 Parliamentary seats.
The matters are being called for case management during Thursday’s hearing before acting High Court judge, Justice Gertel Thom.
someone needs to check the language in the fourth paragraph…something aint adding up
an accused rapist sat n office for many years that nollipros must now be challenge in court and case be heard