Political storm over dual citizenship in St. Vincent

A major row has erupted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines over moves by the government to pass legislation that would allow Prime Minister Goodwin Friday and lawmaker Fritz Bramble to continue serving as elected officials despite holding dual Canadian citizenship, contrary to local laws.

The issue had surfaced during campaigning for general elections held in late November that saw voters dump the Unity Labor Party (ULP) of former veteran Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves after nearly 25 years in office, handing the governing New Democratic Party 14 of the 15 parliamentary seats. Gonsalves was the lone candidate to win his seat.

Opposition politicians and civil society activists had railed against the fact that the two were campaigning for elected public office despite holding Canadian citizenship and having to swear allegiance to a foreign power, yet they did the same when sworn in at home as elected legislators.

This week, however, the government introduced the constitutional amendment bill of 2026 to alter electoral laws, allowing persons holding citizenship from Commonwealth countries to also serve as elected representatives back home. The bill would be retroactive to 1979.

All this is happening while an election petition against Friday and Bramble is to be heard by a high court in the coming weeks, having been filed by opposition activists earlier this year.

If the Prime Minister and Bramble lose their cases, their election can be nullified, and by-elections would have to be held in a run-off all over again.

Attorneys argue that the case for the two remaining lawmakers is especially egregious because both voluntarily obtained Canadian citizenship as adults, not, for example, by birth through parents, thereby immediately disqualifying them from sitting in parliament.

If and when passed, the bill would declare that Commonwealth countries like Canada are not to be regarded as “foreign powers,” clearing the way for them to continue. With 14 of the 15 seats, the NDP would not need any opposition parliamentary support.

The move has triggered a political firestorm in the federation with calls for nationwide protests.

“Unless the amendments are withdrawn, St. Vincent and the Grenadines will descend into political chaos and ruination caused by the NDP,” said Gonsalves. “You really can’t run the race and then move the finish line afterward,” Gonsalves said on Wednesday. Dubbing the government as “barefaced, wicked, worthless, undemocratic. I want you to be mobilized in the villages, in the towns. I want you to be mobilized in the schools, in the hospitals, in the police stations, and in the fire brigade. I want you to be mobilized in the public. service. I want you to be mobilized in the agricultural fields.”

Commenting on the issue, the Times newspaper quoted former parliamentary speaker Jomo Thomas as suggesting that Friday and Bramble obviously have no confidence in the case before the courts, so they have resorted to a bill just in case.

This is a “self-serving measure,” he stated, noting that it suggests that “If they’re now doing this, it seems as though they lack confidence in their case,” he said.

There have been similar challenges in several CARICOM jurisdictions, including Guyana and Jamaica, where lawmakers were forced to publicly produce evidence showing that they had renounced their foreign citizenship to continue serving.