Newly appointed President of the Senate, Kenny Lalsingh is considered to be the early front-runner to contest the rural St. Patrick East seat for the ruling New National Party (NNP) government in the next general election.

A well-placed party official told GRENADA TODAY that Lalsingh is likely to replace Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Adrian “Spaceman” Mitchell who lost the seat in the 2003 poll to Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He said the NNP has been forced to look for another candidate in the constituency since Minister Mitchell has virtually abandoned the area since he lost the seat. “Spaceman has not been doing any political work in the constituency since the elections”, he remarked. He was optimistic that Lalsingh, a businessman by profession, could inject some new life into the constituency and reverse the trend for the governing party.

The Lalsingh-Thomas battle could be intriguing given the fact that both men were on the same side in four consecutive general elections between 1984 and 1999. The two of them also live in St. Patrick’s East although Lalsingh had often run for the St. Patrick’s West seat in past elections.

Lalsingh shot into prominence during the 1979-83 Grenada Revolution when he was detained and held briefly as a political prisoner by the then ruling marxist leaders in the country. After U.S and Caribbean troops stormed the island in October 2003 to bring an end to leftist rule, Lalsingh who was associated with the Grenada National Party (GNP) took part in the merger with two other moderate groups to form the New National Party (NNP).

He was one of fourteen victorious candidates in the December 2003 general elections, winning the St. Patrick’s West seat and landed the post of Minister of State in the Ministry of Works. Lalsingh failed to serve a full term as then Prime Minister Herbert Blaize sacked him over a cement scandal.

The embattled politician joined forces with other disgruntled members of the Blaize administration -- former ministers George Brizan and Dr. Francis Alexis -- to form the Congress party. He held onto the St. Patrick’s West seat for the NDC in the 1990 elections and was made the Minister of Health to serve under the government of Prime Minister Sir Nicholas Brathwaite.

Lalsingh was also forced to resign his government post when he became embroiled in another scandal over the use of his government office to import electronic equipment for the operators of a small FM radio station involving British-trained journalist, Stanley Charles. The businessman spent the next 13 years in the political wilderness, joining forces with several other political activists to form a string of opposition groupings that never managed to attract massive public support.

Lalsingh’s re-emergence with the NNP comes at a time as the party is intensifying its political work in several parts of the country. Informed sources have said that the NNP has put out several teams of political workers in areas such as St. John’s and St. Andrew’s South-east where newly appointed Minister of Youth Affairs, Emmalin Pierre is emerging as the frontline candidate.

Prime Minister Mitchell is known to have told party supporters in New York that the NNP is on the hunt for about eight new candidates for the next general election which he can call as late as 2009.