ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell comfortably won his St. David seat as his ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) remained on course for an almost complete sweep of the 15 seats in the general election here on Thursday.
Mitchell, who called the general election more than a year before it was constitutionally due, easily defeated Noleen Roxanne James Thompson of the main opposition New National Party (NNP) polling 5318 votes as against 2138 for the NNP candidate as the NDC remained on course to win at least 14 of the 15 seats in the Parliament.
NNP leader Emmalin Pierre, who was seeking to become the first woman prime minister in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, lost her St. Andrew South East seat, to Education Minister David Andrew, whom she had defeated by just over 200 votes in the last election.
This time around Pierre polled 1,849 votes as against 2,011 for Andrew. Shirley McQueen of the Democratic People’s Movement (DPM) polled 19 votes.
The NNP lone victory has come in the St. George North West where Tawfiq Adrian Marlan Joseph polled 2,052 to his challengers from the NDC 89 and the People’s National Party (PNP), 69.
Former foreign affairs minister Peter David, lost his Town of St. George’s seat, which he first won in 2003, to Attorney General Claudette Joseph, as his newly formed DPM, which fielded nine candidates, failed to make any significant impression on the voters.
Prior to the vote, political commentators had said that David, who had served in both NDC and NNP administrations, would emerge as a kingpin, but he was only able to poll 730 votes as against 1,269 for Joseph nd 536 for the NNP’s candidate.
Apart from the NDC, the NNP and the DPM, the other political parties, including the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) founded in 1950 by the country’s first prime minister Sir Eric Gairy, who in March 13, 1979, as overthrown in a coup led by Maurice Bishop, the People’s National Party, Grenada Social Democratic Party, Grenada Renaissance Party and the Change of Hope for Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique all failed to make any impression on voters.
The Trinidad-based political analyst Derek Ramsamooj told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CCMC) that the Grenadian electorate has demonstrated a willingness to give Prime Minister Mitchell a second term, saying “this reflects an acceptance of new, young, dynamic leadership that can deliver a better quality of life.
“Tonight we have witnessed the end of the political era of the NNP. New leadership is needed if the NNP has to recreate itself as a political alternative to form government in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
“Dickon Mitchell has demonstrated the capacity to utilise the office of the Prime Minister to deliver to the society. Dickon Mitchell reflects that if leadership is earned, then respect will be given in the form of votes come election day.”
Ramsamooj said that the election campaign was indeed “a very sophisticated but at times brutal election campaign.
“The perspective of transactional politics as well that of keeping and building a momentum of support during the campaign time was indeed evident. Clearly the NDC had a lot more political capital and resources when compared to the NNP,” Ramsamooj told CMC.
Barbados-based political analyst and commentator, Peter Wickham said that the election was “ free and fair and it was free from violence” adding “it was a historic election in many ways”.
Wickham said that the results “reflected in some polling that I did in the early stages.
“But everyone I spoke to in Grenada…was telling me that the NNP had clawed back some level of support. Clearly, that did not happen. So yeah, we have what we call carnage, a political carnage in the NNP.”
Wickham said that Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell made history for the second time, first by defeating the greatest political juggernaut in Grenada in former prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell and “now he’s defeated the party that he created or the party that he left behind again”.
“The NDC has done well. There’s no question about it. But if you objectively look at the campaign, there were several things that were not particularly exciting. It was a pedestrian effort,” he said, hinting that Pierre, 51, should consider ending her political career following the defeat.
NDC deputy chairman, Randall Robinson, speaking on radio said “we have been able to push through the agenda as articulated in the manifesto of 2022, and I think that people are seeing, you know, we didn’t just talk, but we did.
“Look at the kinds of achievements that we have had over the period of time.Look at the quality of the events that we were able to put on and to pull off,” he added.
According to the preliminary figures released by the Parliamentary Elections Office (PEO) the voter turnout was 63.3 per cent with 61, 264 valid votes cast.
The NDC received 37, 369 while the NNP polled 22,567 while the PDM received 1,189.
