Attorney-General Elvin Nimrod and Special Advisor to Cabinet Hugh Wildman told reporters in St. George’s last Friday that the town of St. George seat held by opposition member Peter David is null.

The two members of the Keith Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) government made the disclosure at a press conference held at the Ministerial Complex at the Botanical Gardens in tanteen.

Nimrod who is known to have held U.S citizenship said that “the Attorney-General office has received credible information and confirmation that the opposition member for the town of St. George is a citizen of Canada and has held Canadian citizenship since 1992.”

He said that this is clearly “in violation of section 31 (1a) of the constitution of Grenada which states that no person shall be qualified to be elected as a Member of the House of Representatives if he is by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obeyance or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

“The office of the Attorney-General is therefore calling on the person or persons involved to state whether he or she holds Canadian citizenship while he or she is a sitting member of Parliament”, he added.

David unseated Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Senator Brenda Hood to win the seat in the November 2003 general election for the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Nimrod was adamant that David, a barrister-at-law by profession and General Secretary of the Congress party was not holding the town seat “pursuant to the constitution, and is (doing so in) violation of the constitution and the seat could be declared vacant.”

This a serious issue, he said that could have serious consequences for the Parliament of the Grenada. Jamaican-born Wildman charged that the election for the Town of St. George seat was a “nullity” due to the situation with David. He suggested stated that “the seat has to be declared vacant and there has to be a by-election to fill that seat.”

Wildman pointed out that David should resign voluntarily from parliament because any person can now challenge him to prove that he was not elected in keeping with the constitution of Grenada.

However, outspoken attorney-at-law Anslem Clouden who is also a citizen of Canada took issue with the statement made by Nimrod and branded it as “ill-conceived and mis-conceived”.

Clouden said that section 30 of the Grenada constitution states quite clearly that its provisions are subjected to what is entailed in section 31 of the said constitution.

He stated that a person is qualified to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives in Grenada if he is a Commonwealth citizen who has attained the age of 18 years and that Canada is part of the Commonwealth. The attorney-at-law said that Canada cannot be described as a “foreign power of state” based on the provisions of the Grenada constitution.

Clouden said it is rather regrettable that the Grenadian people are being seriously misled by both Wildman and Nimrod.

He felt that this is a very unfortunate event and only helps to create further instability in a country that is already unstable under the Mitchell government with its tender 8-7 majority in parliament.