By Lincoln DePradine

The return to government of the National Democratic Congress, which held no parliament seats for nine years, is “nothing short of a miracle,’’ according to the NDC’s leader, who was sworn in on Friday as Prime Minister Dickon Amiss Thomas Mitchell.

In his inaugural address as prime minister, Mitchell acknowledged God “for the wonderful miracle he has created by giving the National Democratic Congress and myself the opportunity to form the government of Grenada’’.

He also praised citizens who, in casting ballots, demonstrated that democracy across Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique is “strong’’ and “alive’’, and that “power rests with the people’’.

 “I want to reemphasize that each adult citizen of Grenada has the power to determine, by a single vote, who leads and when that leadership comes to an end, and who succeeds,’’ Mitchell said at the ceremony that was presided over by Governor General Dame Cecile La Grenade.

“I wish to assure the nation that, under my leadership, the National Democratic Congress must lead by example by taking the united citizens-first approach to our governance.’’

Among those who attended the ceremony were newly elected NDC MPs; former Prime Minister Tillman Thomas; diplomats; as well as relatives of Mitchell, including his parents, grandmother and two children.

In the immediate aftermath of the June 23 general election, leaders of the two major political parties, including Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, have been preaching love, support and collaboration in the interest of developing Grenada.

“We need all of us to move Grenada forward,’’ Mitchell told supporters Thursday night in La Sagesse, St David.

The event, hosted after the NDC won nine of 15 seats in the general election, was to celebrate “liberation day’’, Mitchell said to boisterous cheers. “You have exercised the power to liberate Grenada and to move Grenada forward.’’

Last Thursday’s triumph was an impressive showing by the NDC, whose political symbol is the heart. The party, which was founded in 1987 and lost in clean sweeps to the New National Party (NNP) in 2013 and 2018, elected newcomer Dickon Mitchell as leader only last October.

Dr Keith Mitchell, longtime leader of the NNP, was seeking a sixth term as the nation’s prime minister. However, he failed to get a mandate. He was reelected with five other NNP candidates: Emmalin Pierre, Kate Lewis-Peters, Delma Thomas, Peter David and Dr Clarice Modeste-Curwen.

In a written statement issued last Friday, which was a public holiday, former Prime Minister Mitchell said he had spoken with his successor from the NDC by telephone and had “offered his best wishes’’, and pointing out that “any success will be for the benefit of the entire nation’’.

Dr Mitchell, who will be 76 in November, also expressed his willingness “to give the new government his support in promoting policies and programs that will be for the benefit of the nation’’; and, also promising “to play a constructive role as Opposition Leader’’, stating that “any opposition will be on philosophical issues’’ that he believes “might be in the better interest of the country’’.

According to the statement, the NNP leader said, “while he understands every new government will come with different ideas and approaches, he will like the new administration to positively consider not dismantling programs that especially benefit ordinary people the most’’.

Modeste-Curwen, speaking in a radio interview on Friday, commended the NDC and Dickon Mitchell.

“I want to congratulate the NDC on their win. Obviously, they must have done something good for the convincing win that they would have just executed. I wish them well, I wish the country well, I wish the leader well,’’ said the veteran St Mark MP.

“I will always maintain my stateswomanship and I will be willing and ready to participate in anything that is for the benefit of this country,’’ Modeste-Curwen said. “I believe that with a concerted effort, with a collaborative effort, and with goodwill, we can achieve quite a lot.’’

More than 78,000 Grenadians were registered to vote in the election, which witnessed a high voter turnout and long lines of people waiting to cast their ballots before polling stations opened.

As results began rolling in after the 5 pm close of balloting, NDC candidates took initial leads in various constituencies; some maintained their leads to emerge victors.

Eventually, NDC defeated NNP by a vote difference of less than 3,000, with former permanent secretary in the ministry of finance, Lennox Andrews, being declared the first winner on election night. He now is parliamentary representative for St Andrew South-West.

NDC leader Mitchell scored a decisive win in St David over Oliver Joseph, former foreign affairs minister. Mitchell registered 4,414 votes to Joseph’s 2,742.

NNP’s Gregory Bowen, the outgoing finance minister who often served as acting prime minister, was a major casualty in the June 23 defeat, as he was in 2008 when he lost to NDC’s Karl Hood in St George South-East.

Newcomer Phillip Telesford, one of the NDC’s nine winners, Triumphed over Bowen on this latest occasion.

Other new NDC MPs are Tevin Andrews (Carriacou & Petite Martinique); Kerryne James (St John); Dennis Cornwall (St Patrick East); Joseph Andall (St Patrick West); Ron Redhead (St George North-East); and Andy Williams, who is representing St George South.

It’s the second time the NDC has won a general election with a majority; but, the third occasion forming the government in its 35-year history.

The party, then headed by Sir Nicholas Brathwaite, won seven of 15 seats in national polls in March 1990. Sir Nicholas was sworn as prime minister of an NDC-led administration after receiving the support of MP Edzel Victor Thomas, who was appointed minister for labour, cooperatives, social security and community development.

Thomas, a businessman who died in 2014, ran as a Grenada United Labour Party candidate and won the constituency of St John.

Dickon Mitchell, the youngest prime minister since Maurice Bishop in 1979, takes the reigns of office with an ambitious development plan and with a commitment to keep promises he made on the election campaign trail.

The first working day of the new NDC government, following last Friday’s holiday and the weekend, was Monday, June 27.

Monday was the beginning of work “to rebuild’’ and “start the process’’ of transformation, Prime Minister Mitchell, a 44-year-old lawyer, told the “liberation day’’ La Sagesse rally.

“You are truly amazing and this victory belongs to you,’’ he said. “Let our heart pump the blood of love to each and every one of us, including our neighbours and our friends and our relatives, who voted for the other side.’’

Mitchell, who pledged “to go to work on behalf of the people, to go to work on behalf of the citizens of Grenada’’, warned that changes will be made at some government service levels.

“We will seek to do so in a transparent and open manner. The key criteria will be merit,’’ he said. “We need to run our country based on merit, based on hard work, based on the desire and the willingness to welcome and to find solutions to the challenges that face us.’’

The challenges confronting the nation are “real’’ and call for “tough’’ decisions, Mitchell said.

As the prime minister put it, Grenada requires “fresh, new faces with innovative ideas, driven by the common desire to make our country a better place’’.

He said a main issue to be “immediately’’ tackled is the voting process that is supervised by the Parliamentary Elections Office. The aim, he said, is to “significantly strengthen our electoral process. It is in dire need of reform’’.