Is the NDP Gov’t Seeking Constitutional Changes to Bolster Its Election Petitions Defence? 

By Admin. Updated 9:48 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

Items 5 and 6 on the Order Paper for Parliament’s scheduled meeting on 21 April list bills to amend both the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, even as the High Court prepares to hear election petitions in July.

The petitions challenge the elections of Dr Godwin Friday and Mr Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, arguing that their Canadian citizenship, acquired by their own acts, renders their seats in the House of Assembly unconstitutional, owing to allegiance to a foreign power.

One News SVG has obtained text from a document purporting to detail the first reading of a bill to amend the 1979 Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). The proposed legislation would redefine “foreign powers” and insert a new section to prevent invalidation of eligibility for those who, by their own act, hold Commonwealth citizenship.

Notably, the wording seeks to apply the amendments “as from the commencement of this Constitution”, rendering them potentially retroactive.

This development follows the High Court’s first case management session on 5 March, which set trial dates for the petitions on 28, 29, and 30 July 2026.

It prompts questions about the defendants’ confidence in their legal position, alongside concerns over possible judicial interference and avenues for judicial review.

The move also contrasts sharply with remarks by Prime Minister Dr Godwin Friday after that session, when he dismissed the petitions as “frivolous”.

Speaking to SVGTV News outside the High Court in Kingstown on 5 March, Dr Friday said: “This is taking public time, public resources. I’m a busy person. I’m the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The people elected me to do their business. I’m spending two hours in the court here answering a frivolous application.”

Full Text of the Proposed Bill

“AN ACT to amend the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines set out in the First Schedule to the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Constitution Order 1979, (United Kingdom S.I. No. 916 of 1979) to clarify and expressly provide for the interpretation of certain provisions, and for related matters.
THE PARLIAMENT of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines enacts as follows

Short title
This Act may be cited as the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Amendment) Act 2026 and shall be read and construed as one with the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Constitution Order.

Amendment of First Schedule

1. The First Schedule to the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Constitution Order is amended—
   (a) in section 26(5) by inserting the following definition in the appropriate alphabetical position—

“foreign power or state” shall, as from the commencement of this Constitution, have a meaning that does not include any state or country that is for the time being a Commonwealth country.

(b) by inserting the following new section after section 26—
Savings
26A. Nothing in section 26(1)(a) shall be construed as rendering invalid, at any time on or after the commencement of this Constitution, the nomination, election, return or appointment of any person as a Representative or Senator by reason only that such person, at the time of nomination, election, return or appointment, was by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a Commonwealth country.*”

Certain provisions of the 1979 Constitution require a two-thirds parliamentary majority and a referendum for amendment. It remains unclear whether this bill falls into that category.

The current government, however, commands 14 of the 15 elected seats—well exceeding the two-thirds threshold.

END