JAN 24

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has scoffed at remarks made by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell that it is now up to the opposition in parliament to push for Electoral Reform in the country.

Dr. Mitchell told reporters at a press conference last week that if it were left up to him, Grenadians can see changes in the Electoral process within the first quarter of the year.
However, he insisted that this cannot be done without the input of the elected opposition in the Lower House.

In responding to comments made by the Grenadian Leader, Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas who is the Political Leader of the congress party, described the statements as incorrect.

According to Thomas, the Prime Minister is not putting the whole issue of Electoral Reform into proper perspective.
Thomas, a barrister-at-law by profession, said it should be remembered it is the New National Party (NNP) government that was presented with draft legislation on electoral reform four years ago by the Organisation of American States (OAS) and did not act upon it.

He stated that the onus is now on government to initiate the necessary changes that were presented to it.
He promised to give the full support of the opposition to electoral reform since it will be in the best interest of the country.

Calls for the reforming of the Electoral process have been ongoing since 1999 and was heightened following allegations of widespread irregularities in the November 27 general election in which Dr. Mitchell's NNP was returned to power in a narrow 8-7 win over congress.

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 Electoral List.

Others spoke of their names being transferred without their consent and knowledge to polling stations outside of their communities.

NDC's Deputy Political Leader George Prime has filed a petition before the high court challenging his lost by six votes in the Carriacou & Petite Martinique constituency to NNP's Elvin Nimrod, the current Minister of External Affairs.
A preliminary report released by the OAS Observer Mission to the Grenada election made mention of voter irregularities and dropped strong hints about voter-padding.

Among the concerns raised with the Voters List in Grenada is its size of 82, 000 with a population of 100, 000 persons, as well as the amount of names of deceased persons on the list, and the thousands of Grenadians living overseas who have not updated their status in recent years.
Member of Parliament for St. George's North-East, Nazim Burke was also critical of the Mitchell regime for not leading the way while in office on Electoral Reform in Grenada.

Burke pointed out that the draft document presented to government by the OAS should have been piloted a long time ago through the Houses of Parliament in the form of a Bill since they had a commanding 14-1 majority in the Lower House in the last parliament.

The NDC senior executive member described the comments from Prime Minister Mitchell as "senseless and silly", and called on the NNP government to get up and start dealing in a serious manner with Electoral Reform.
Burke said that if this is not done by government then the Congress party will take the initiative in parliament to ensure that Electoral Reform takes place in Grenada.