JAN 17

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell says it is now left up to the elected opposition in the House of Representatives to push for Electoral Reform in the country.

He made the statement during his first official news conference on Tuesday since the ruling New National Party (NNP) narrowly escaped defeat at the hands of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in last November's general election.

Dr. Mitchell told reporters that if the decision is left up to him and his party, Grenada can expect to see changes in the system by the middle of the year.

According to the Grenadian leader, he does not want to be seen by the population as pushing the issue of Electoral Reform all on his own. "...Left up to me, you will have that (Electoral Reform) before the middle of the year", he said at the news conference held at the Ministerial Complex building in the Botanical Gardens.

Calls for the reforming of the Electoral process have been ongoing since 1999 and heightened following the conclusion of the November 27 poll in which the NNP won 8 of the 15 seats for parliament.
A number of persons across the country complained about being holders of National Identification Cards but were unable to cast their ballots because their names were removed from the Final Voter's list.

Others spoke of being transferred to a different polling station outside of their communities without their consent and knowledge. A preliminary report released by the Organisation of American States (OAS) Observer Mission to the Grenada election made mention of some voter irregularities in the process.

The organisation has, since 1999 assisting the country in reforming its system by laying down a number of guidelines for the Parliamentary Elections Office on the island to implement.
Other issues plaguing the process in the country include the amount of deceased persons still on the List as well as hundreds of Grenadians residing overseas who have not updated their status in recent times.

The Prime Minister pointed out that he is unable to speak for the official opposition of the country about the issue since they will also have to be willing to see that Reform takes place.

Dr. Mitchell said that in the past he had pushed those responsible to revamp the process of Electoral Reform and that his advice was not heeded. "The fact that it didn't reach Parliament was not my making. And I did not want to be seen as interfering with an independent process", he added.

The Prime Minister encouraged the media to use their influence to get the official opposition side in the House of Representatives to also push for those changes to happen in the electoral process by the middle of the year.

Dr. Mitchell was confident that when the system is corrected, no one can blame government for interfering with the Electoral Process or trying to provide advantages for the governing party.
He spoke of being convinced that the system is outdated and needs serious modernisation.
He also said that he does not want to see an election by any form in the country again without serious Electoral Reform.
"We have to make it easier for people to vote. No one should be spending 2 and 3 hours in a line to cast a vote", the Prime Minister said.

Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas is known to have pledged the NDC's commitment to working both inside and outside parliament for Electoral Reform in order to stamp out irregularities including possible voter-padding.

The losing NDC candidate for the constituency of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, George Prime has filed a writ in the high court challenging his lost to External Affairs Minister Elvin Nimrod on the grounds of several irregularities in the voting process.