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HOME	OCTOBER 29 th, 2005

Talks have been held in St. George’s between a delegation from the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Political Leader of the People’s Labour Movement (PLM), Dr. Francis Alexis.

Informed sources told GRENADA TODAY that the PLM boss had despatched an emissary to the Congress party to get details about its call for the formation of a broad-based national front to rescue Grenada now in a deepening financial and economic crisis.

After a decade of rule by the governing New National Party (NNP) of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, Grenada has been forced to look at ways to reschedule its mounting debts estimated at $1.3 billion. Finance Minister Anthony Boatswain has also dropped strong hints that the island might be forced to enter into a package of austerity measures with the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to well-placed sources, the NDC’s Deputy Political Leader George Prime and its General Secretary, Peter David met for about half-an-hour in St. George’s with the PLM leader to discuss the call by Congress for the broad-based front.

A source who did not want to be named said that Dr. Alexis listened “attentively as usual without saying anything much” about the proposals being advanced by NDC, the only opposition party with seats in parliament. He spoke of Dr. Alexis giving David and Prime the assurances that he would first have to inform his executive about the proposal to get their take on the issue.

Dr. Alexis was a founding member of the NDC but left immediately after the party lost power in the 1995 general election to the NNP, citing differences with some of the senior members in the grouping. He formed the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), and is now associated with a new grouping that involves Dr. Terry Marryshow the Political Leader of another defunct party, the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM).

A spokesman for the Congress party indicated to this newspaper that the talks being held with PLM and other opposition groups are not aimed at bringing about a merger of these parties. He said the plan as outlined calls for all the parties to remain as separate entities but to co-operate within the framework on a broad-based national front in order to “rescue” Grenada from the crisis brought about by the years of mis-rule by the Mitchell government.

The NDC has already started talks with other stakeholders in the country on arriving at a consensus on the way forward for Grenada in light of the recent rises in consumer prices especially petroleum products. The groups being targeted by the NDC include the Grenada Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GCIC), Grenada Employers Federation (GEF), Non-governmental Organisations (NGO's), Grenada Trade Union Council (TUC), Church groups and opposition political parties.

Addressing a recent public meeting in St. George’s, David who is the elected Member of Parliament for the town of St. George Constituency said the aimed of the NDC is to put together a broad-based group "to fight this beast that is called the New National Party" and "to find a way to save us from going over the precipice".

He said the main opposition party sees the move as essential in developing "a framework" on the way forward "so that we can take our country out of this crisis and take it away from the mismanagement of the New National Party". David said the NDC was making a call for "all" in the country to come together "in a fight for the future of this country".

"The National Democratic Congress is prepared to work with all organisations and individuals who have an interest in this country in order to take us out of this miss that we are in", he added.