Justice Gertel Thom, will on Wednesday continue hearing evidence in the two election petitions brought by defeated candidates of the main opposition Unity Labour Party (ULP) after five witnesses testified on the first day.
The ULP’s Luke Browne is challenging the victory of the East Kingstown legislator, Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, while Carlos Williams is asking the court to declare the victory of Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday in the Northern Grenadines null and void. Friday led the then opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) to victory in the November 27 general elecction last year, ending a 24-year rule by the ULP.
Browne is contending that Bramble was not qualified to be a candidate because he holds Canadian citizenship, while Williams has filed a similar petition against Friday.
Lawyers for the petitioners began presenting their case on Tuesday and the Court is expected to start hearing ‘expert witnesses’ Wednesday as the sitting is expected to continue until Thursday.
Bramble, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has welcomed the start of the election petitions telling reporters ‘the court case has begun and it’s in process.
‘That’s the most I can say. It has begun and legal proceedings are underway,’ said Bramble, who was declared winner of the East Kingstown seat for a second five-year term last November.
Both Prime Minister Friday and Bramble were in court on Tuesday and speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s hearing, former Trinidad and Tobago attorney general, Anand Ramlogan, the lead counsel for the government said ‘the law is taking its course.
‘This is a very interesting election petition, given the overwhelming mandate given by the people to Prime Minister Friday and his government, and you know we see the wheels of justice and democracy interacting, and we are very confident about this matter.
‘We feel that justice will prevail in the end, and the honourable prime minister will be vindicated in the position he has taken,’ Ramlogan said, adding that Prime Minister Friday had never made his dual citizenship a secret.
‘And I think that the population voted for him, knowing full well his democratic credentials and his commitment and dedication as a servant of the people, and we intend to ensure that it remains that way,’ Ramlogan said, adding that on Wednesday ‘ we’ll have the expert witnesses, and we have a couple others. … it’s a day-by-day trial’.
Ramlogan said that the judicial proceedings are ‘a very exhausting and intense process, but ultimately, we feel this is a very momentous day to see that the prime minister would clear his schedule, come to court, be there respectful towards the court and the citizens who are entitled to a quick resolution of this matter in the interests of democracy’.
Meanwhile, former Trinidad and Tobago prime minister, Senior Counsel Stuart Young, who is the lead counsel for the petitioners, said the first day of hearing was as expected, with ‘the commencement of these very important election petitions, and we will see how it goes.’
Leading up to the 2025 vote, notices were published in the media, urging constituents not to vote for either candidate.
‘Do not be fooled, nomination as a candidate for election is a legal prerequisite to election, and a valid nomination is a legal prerequisite to being validly elected. The nomination of a person who is not qualified to be elected is not a valid,’ the notice said, adding that constituents can be assured that the nomination of Friday and Bramble ‘will be successfully challenged’.