By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2022 – The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) won Grenada’s general election held on Thursday, June 23, ousting long-serving Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, leader of the New National Party (NNP).
The incoming Prime Minister is Dickon Mitchell, a 44-year-old attorney and former teacher who became leader of the NDC last October. According to news reports, he has pledged to improve health care, decrease unemployment and poverty, build affordable housing and boost education. He was sworn-in on Friday.
Dickon Mitchell’s NDC party obtained 52% of the votes compared with 48% for the NNP and won nine of 15 constituencies. 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.
Former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, however, comfortably won his St George North West seat. Mitchell, who called the general election ahead of the constitutional March 2023 deadline, polled 2,211 votes compared to 773 for Jonathan LaCrette of the main opposition National Democratic Congress. (CMC) Meanwhile, Prime Minister-elect Dickon Mitchell defeated Foreign Affairs Minister Oliver Joseph by a margin of 4,414 to 2,742 votes in the St. David constituency.
According to published reports, in a message posted on its website, the victorious 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.”
According to published reports, NNP leader Dr Keith Mitchell congratulated Prime Minister-elect Dickon Mitchell on his victory at the polls.
“The two leaders spoke via telephone on Friday morning, during which he offered his best wishes,” the report noted. “Dr Mitchell said the elections are a testimony to the strength of Grenadian democracy. He said the people have spoken, and now he is willing to give the new government his support in promoting policies and programmes that will be for the benefit of the nation.” The report added: “Former Prime Minister Mitchell said he fully understands the pressures and expectations that come with the job. He promised to play a constructive role as Opposition Leader, stating that any opposition will be on philosophical issues that he thinks might be in the better interest of the country.
“Dr Mitchell told the Prime Minister-elect that he can rest assured that it will be nothing personal. He said while he understands every new government will come with different ideas and approaches, he will like the new administration to positively consider not dismantling programmes that especially benefit ordinary people the most.
“Dr Mitchell ended the call by wishing Mitchell (D) and the new government well, saying that any success will be for the benefit of the entire nation.”
Dr. Keith Mitchell, 75, became Prime Minister of Grenada in 1995 and served until 2008, then won again in 2018 in a landslide.
Mitchell graduated from the University of the West Indies with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and chemistry in 1971, and obtained a master’s degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1975.
He obtained a doctorate in mathematics and statistics in 1979 from American University in Washington, D.C., and once worked with the U.S government, but returned to Grenada following the 1983 U.S. invasion that occurred just days after the island’s pro-Marxist leader Maurice Bishop was executed.
In 1983, then President Ronald Reagan, citing the threat posed to American nationals in Grenada by that nation’s Marxist regime, ordered U.S. forces to invade and secure their safety, according to an OCTOBER 25 THIS DAY IN HISTORY report on the Internet.
“There were approximately 1,000 Americans in Grenada at the time, many of them students at the island’s medical school. In little more than a week, Grenada’s government was overthrown,” the report notes.
The report added: “The situation on Grenada had been of concern to American officials since 1979, when the leftist Maurice Bishop seized power and began to develop close relations with Cuba. In 1983, another Marxist, Bernard Coard, had Bishop assassinated and took control of the government.
“Protesters clashed with the new government and violence escalated. Citing the danger to the U.S. citizens in Grenada, Reagan ordered nearly 2,000 U.S. troops into the island, where they soon found themselves facing opposition from Grenadan armed forces and groups of Cuban military engineers, in Grenada to repair and expand the island’s airport.
“Matters were not helped by the fact that U.S. forces had to rely on minimal intelligence about the situation. (The maps used by many of them were, in fact, old tourist maps of the island.) Reagan ordered in more troops, and by the time the fighting was done, combined forces of the U.S. and Jamaica totaled nearly 7,600 troops. Nearly 20 of these troops were killed and over a hundred wounded; over 60 Grenadan and Cuban troops were killed. Coard’s government collapsed and was replaced by one acceptable to the United States.”
