The appointment of Kenny Lalsingh to the important post of President of the Senate is only news given the significance of the position. But the importance of Lalsingh as a political force in the country is not a worthy news item.

It reminds us of the old story of a dog biting a man not being news but if a man were to bite a dog then that is indeed news. GRENADA TODAY is not optimistic of the Senate as a vital parliamentary institution benefitting much from the presence of Lalsingh who has been on the national scene for close to three decades with a checkered career and past.

The country has advanced to the point where the likes of Lalsingh and a number of the post-invasion politicians are no longer seen as having any political clout. The dismal performance of Lalsingh and others of this bandwagon in the November 2003 general elections gave testimony to this kind of belief and thinking.

The country is ready for a new breed of politicians who can make a difference to the serious social, economic and political problems confronting not only Grenada but the rest of the Eastern Caribbean in the face of hostile world conditions like the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

It is a sad day to think that Prime Minister Mitchell would try and re-cycle someone like Lalsingh who has nothing of substance to bring to the national table. There is no need for us to remind the nation that it was Dr. Mitchell who then serving as Minister of Communications and Works under the 1984-90 NNP administration of the late H.A Blaize made a complain which resulted in Lalsingh’s dismissal from his Junior Minister’s post over the cement scandal.

It was the same Keith Claudius Mitchell who attacked viciously when the same Lalsingh found himself in more controversy over the Health Disco equipment scandal in the Ministry of Health with Stanley Charles.

The Prime Minister also chastised the same Kenny Lalsingh for advocating the need to have a Port in Sauteurs on the grounds that he (Lalsingh) as a businessman wanted the facility to engage in smuggling. The decision of Leslie-Ann Seon to step down as President of the Senate provided a very good opportunity for the Grenaidan leader to introduce the likes of Kennedy Roberts or Dwight Horsford onto the national stage.

Senator Nigel Stewart, a lawyer by profession, could have been elevated to the post of President of the Senate. He is one of the most decent members of the NNP team and looks a cut above most of the others. Lalsingh is no longer a vote catcher in the St. Patrick’s area. Even the workers at his business places are no longer under his political control. He is virtually walking into the NNP House empty handed where votes are concerned.

Former Opposition Leader Michael Baptiste had lived under the illusion that when Lalsingh broke from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the 1999 general elections that he could have formed a political alliance with him and capture some of the support base of the Congress party. The experience of Baptiste is that Lalsingh came into the fold with only a “few friends” while the NDC’ites stuck with their own party.

The Lalsingh/NNP development brings into focus the future of the party that he has now left behind - the People’s Labour Movement (PLM) of Dr. Francis Alexis. Both the PLM and the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) need to do some real and serious soul searching as regards their own future roles in the country.

Grenada is virtually back to the old days of a two-party system and the NNP and the NDC are currently on the centre stage of the political divide. It is clear that if Lalsingh had seen a future with the PLM that he might not have been tempted to accept the offer of Prime Minister Mitchell to serve as President of the Senate.

The outcome of the next elections would result in significant political changes in the country and both GULP and PLM would have to define where they can fit into the scheme of things.

A loss for NNP would see the end of an era while a defeat for NDC would have far-reaching consequences for most of its leaders and their supporters.
The recent happenings in both PLM and GULP are not breeding hope for the country on the whole without or without the latest Lalsingh development.