Grenadians refused to give Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell his wish for a last victory in a general election by electing a 44-year-old attorney, Dickon Mitchell, as the new head of government in this Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.
Prime Minister Mitchell, 75, had called the general election ahead of the constitutional deadline of March 2023, and during the campaign had been urging supporters of his New National Party (NNP) to give him one more five-year term before he retires from active politics.
Preliminary results released by the Parliamentary Electoral Office (PEO) showed that the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which had been severely trounced in the last two general elections, failing to win any seat in the 15-member Parliament, now controlling a majority nine seats.
The PEO said that the NDC had received 31, 398 votes as against 28, 959 votes for the NNP nationally and that 60, 587 people had cast ballots in the election.
Regional political scientist, Peter Wickham, who had earlier warned of a “revolution” in the outcome of the elections, said it was “a good performance” by the NDC and Mitchell to turn around the party’s fortunes following the results of the last two polls.
“He has the opportunity tomorrow to go into office and essentially clear all of the stuff out and eventually build something that is his own something that is new.
I am excited at the possibilities because it can be transformative, it can also be momentarily, but let’s hope for his sake and also for the sake of Grenada he is able to do a lot of the things that have needed doing for a long time,” Wickham said
In a message posted on its website, the NDC said “we are overwhelmed with gratitude and stand humbled before the Lord our God and you, the people of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique.
“Thank you from the bottom of each and every one of our hearts. This victory is not ours, but yours.
Now, the hard work begins, but, first, join us …at La Sagesse Playing Field for a special victory celebration.
“Together, we are moving Grenada FORWARD,” the NDC added,
Prime Minister Mitchell, who comfortably won his St. George North West seat.
Dickon Mitchell, who called the general election ahead of the constitutional March 2023 deadline, polled 2,211 votes as against 773 for Jonathan LaCrette of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
But the results were a disaster for several government ministers including the Finance Minister Gregory Bowen, the Minister of Legal Affairs Kindra Mathurin-Stewart, the Minister with responsibility for Forestry and Fisheries, Alvin Da Breo, as well as the Minister for Infrastructure Development, Nolan Cox and Pamela Moses, the Minster for Information and Communications Technology, all lost their seats in the polls.
The NDC leader, who took over the opposition party in October last year, easily defeated Foreign Affairs Minister Oliver Joseph comfortably in the St. David constituency.
Prime Minister Mitchell has not yet issued any statement conceding defeat, but the NNP’s general secretary, Ronald Bhola, speaking on television congratulated the NDC on its victory.”
“From the results, we have heard so far, it is apparent they have won nine of the 15 seats in the general elections, so congratulations to them,” he said, adding that general elections are like a contest.
“We did what we had to do…the results will definitely allow us to go back to the drawing board to examine areas where we thought we had strengths and others where we had weaknesses. There is definitely going to be an audit of the results.
“We felt we had more to offer Grenadians than the National Democratic Congress,” he added.
Attorney Dickon Mitchell will be sworn in on Friday, June 24, 2022 as Grenada’s ninth Prime Minister.
CMC/
