Unity Labour Party (ULP) candidate Luke Browne has defended a legal push to have himself and fellow petitioner Augustus Carlos Williams declared the elected parliamentary representatives for East Kingstown and the Northern Grenadines.
Browne likened the legal bid to an Olympic sprint in which the winner crosses out of his lane, leaving the gold medal to the second-place finisher.
Speaking to reporters in Kingstown on Thursday after closing arguments concluded in the High Court, Browne maintained that the petitioners’ request is a matter of law rather than amusement.
“When somebody runs a 100-meters finals in the Olympics and places first and takes the gold medal, and it is subsequently determined that they may have crisscrossed out of their lane and are subsequently disqualified, it is automatic that the person who is in second place in that scenario takes over,” Browne said.
He continued his point, saying other breaches can also trigger a disqualification.
“You may know some of them, including if there is a doping charge that is made out, so this is not something that is novel,” he said.
Browne and Williams are asking High Court Judge Gertel Thom to void the November general election victories of Prime Minister Godwin Friday in the Northern Grenadines and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble in East Kingstown. In that election, Friday defeated Williams 2,185 votes to 339, while Bramble defeated Browne 2,728 votes to 1,727.
The consolidated petitions contend that Friday and Bramble breached Section 26(1)(a) of the Constitution because they voluntarily acquired Canadian citizenship, which the petitioners argue constitutes an acknowledgement of allegiance to a foreign power. Lawyers for the respondents countered that Section 25 permits Commonwealth citizens to sit in Parliament, and lead defence counsel Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan has described the petitioners’ bid to claim the seats without as “very anti-democratic.”
Browne insisted that neither he nor his team prevented the New Democratic Party (NDP) respondents from renouncing their Canadian citizenship so the petitioners could enter Parliament by default.
“And this is not about becoming an elected member by default,” Browne said. “This is about pursuing our right as citizens to have all elections conducted according to the rules which are specified in the Constitution and in our laws, and for us not to have a situation where a government that creates an issue seeks later to come to address or adjust that issue by self-serving legislation in Parliament.”
He questioned why government officials raised the prospect of passing legislation on the matter before the court if they were confident in their legal position.
“I think that Vincentians, generally speaking, would understand this case for what it is. I have been in several elections before. I have been unsuccessful in some of those elections,” Browne said. “But that didn’t stop me from moving on with my life. That didn’t stop me from seeking how I might represent people otherwise. That didn’t stop me from regrouping and trying to come again. I abide by the will of the electorate in elections determined according to the rules,” He added.
Voters in East Kingstown rejected Browne in all four general elections he contested—losing to former opposition leader Arnhim Eustace in 2010 and 2015, and to Bramble in 2020 and 2025. Between 2015 and 2020, Browne sat in Parliament as an appointed senator and served as minister of health.
Browne said his party satisfied all pre-election notice requirements by warning voters in both constituencies during the campaign that votes for Friday and Bramble would be wasted.
“We provided the notices throughout the constituency. We made the points during the course of the election campaign, and as a result of us discharging all of our responsibilities in this matter, it is right that the court should be asked to determine this matter,” Browne said, adding that he has confidence in the court and expects justice when Thom delivers her ruling.