A major political and constitutional crisis is unfolding in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the governing New Democratic Party (NDP) stands accused of attempting to retroactively change the constitution to protect two of its members currently embroiled in an election lawsuit.
The controversy centers around Godwin Friday and Fitz Bramble, who won their respective seats in the November 27th elections but are currently facing election petitions.
The petitions argue that “under section 26 of the constitution Bramble and Friday were disqualified to be nominated to be elected because by their own acts, own voluntary acts, they acquired Canadian citizenship”.
Before the court could hear the core arguments of the case, the NDP introduced two bills to amend the constitution and the Representation of the People Act. The proposed legislation seeks to redefine the term “foreign power or state” to exclude Commonwealth countries like Canada, and crucially, to apply this change retroactively to 1979.
Speaking publicly on the matter, Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves strongly condemned the move, describing it as an interference with the judiciary. “There’s a live election petition before the court and before the court can decide it, the government is changing the constitution retroactively,” the leader stated. “This isn’t just about law making. This is stepping into a life case and trying to decide it from parliament”.
He used a sports analogy to explain the severity of the situation to the public: “You play a football football match, you’re losing and then you go back and say, ‘Actually, we change the rules, you know, we win.'”.
The Opposition leader argued that this maneuver poses a severe threat to the nation’s democratic foundation, stating, “Today it is a day where we have to commence our resistance to this NDP dictatorship. This dictatorship is seeking to bring a constitutional amendment to throw out the election case against Friday and Bramble”. He emphasized that the situation fundamentally threatens “fairness, the rule of law, the separation of powers, judicial independence”