Grenadian Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell Sunday night announced March 13 as the date for new general elections in Grenada.
Feb. 20, Nomination Day
Addressing a rally of his ruling New National Party (NNP) at the National Stadium in Georgetown, the Grenadian capital, Mitchell told supporters that Nomination Day will be on February 20.
In the 2013 general election, the NNP won all 15 seats defeating the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of then prime minister Tillman Thomas.
March 13 is historical date
This will be the second time that a general election will be held on March 13. On the first occasion in 1990, the NDC won seven seats, the Grenada United Labor Party (GULP) four seats. The NNP won two seats, the same as the National Party (NP).
March 13, 1979 is also a historic date for Grenada. It was the date when members of the New Jewel Movement (NJM) headed by the late Maurice Bishop staged the first coup in the English-speaking Caribbean. The coup resulted in the removal of the then prime minister Sir Eric Gairy from office while he was on a visit to the United States.
Mitchell confident
Mitchell told supporters that he is confident of regaining office in the upcoming general election.
Meanwhile, the head of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES), Peter Wickham, is also predicting a victory for the NNP in the upcoming general election.
Wickham, a respected regional pollster, told listeners on a radio show in Grenada, that the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which lost the 2013 general election by a 15-nil margin, may find it difficult, if not impossible to overturn such a huge deficit.
“The NNP is in pole position. When you come from a situation where you have all the seats it puts you in pole position to win the next election. But I think the NNP challenge now is that they have to be really careful about voter motivation,” he said.
 headed by the late Maurice Bishop staged the first coup in the English-speaking Caribbean.){kind=link}