HOME	JUNE 26th, 2004

JUNE 26

The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is not showing any signs of fear or anxiety with the re-entry of female Jamaican political activist Joan Webley to help re-organise the ruling New National Party (NNP) government of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell.

A senior party official told this newspaper that the congress will not concentrate its efforts on Webley but rather the registration exercise aimed at putting together a new Voters list for the island.
He said that if the NDC did its work properly then no amount of work by the Jamaican will be able to prevent the NNP from falling from power "at the right time".

He spoke of the Congress Party being aware of another so-called Jamaican computer expert working from inside the NNP head office on Lucas Street to help the ruling party on electoral matters.

"We do not expect any foul play to take place in the current exercise. That does not mean that we would not be vigilant and pay careful attention to what is happening there", he said. "If anything illegal takes place, the position of the party is that the Supervisor of Elections (Victor Ashby) will be held personally responsible by us", he added.

According to the official, the NDC intends to step up on its work in the field to ensure that bonafide Grenadians including its supporters get re-registered in the current period. He also repeated calls for the Supervisor of Elections to do more public relations work on the exercise in order to ensure that all Grenadians are fully aware of their rights to be registered as eligible voters.

The NDC took centre stage in the November 27, 2003 general elections when it grabbed seven of the fourteen seats held by the NNP to leave the party with a mere one-seat majority in parliament.
Meanwhile, a former supporter of Prime Minister Mitchell has expressed shock at the decision of the NNP hierarchy to return to Webley given her unceremonious exit at the end of the 1999 poll.

"To bring back Webley at this point is simply a desperate act. If the NNP boys' are saying that things are fine and the party is rallying behind (Dr. Mitchell) then, why the need for Webley?

"The other thing (Mitchell) is missing is that he is no longer in favour with the Grenadian people. No Webley could save him this time around. "The same Webley worked with the PAM (opposition Peopler's Labour Movement) in St.Kitts in the last elections. The PAM lost all 8 seats to (the St. Kitts) Labour (Party).

"That woman (Webley) is not a political strategist. She is good at tricks, if you know what I mean. Speculation is rife that Webley was brought back at a hefty sum by the NNP to help reorganise the party.

During the 1995-99 period, Webley who was then living in the south of the island is known to have requested $7000.00 U.S a month from Prime Minister Mitchell for the political services. Dr. Mitchell reportedly agreed but later gave Webley a reduced sum of $3500.00 U.S. The funds to pay Webley came from the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP).

The move turned out to be embarrassing for the Mitchell government as then Opposition Leader George Brizan who was then at the helm of NDC wrote the UNDP office in Barbados to protest over the use of their funds for partisan political work in Grenada.