St. George’s, March 18, 2012 – Supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Carriacou and Petite Martinique would like Senator George Prime to be their candidate at the nation’s next general election that is due by next year.
Sen. Prime was endorsed as the NDC’s caretaker for Carriacou and Petite Martinique on the weekend; a weekend in which some senior representatives of the party, government members and unelected officials, were also meeting in a closed door session in St. George’s.
The Leader of Government’s Business in the Upper House, Prime lost the Carriacou and Petite Martinique seat in 2003 and 2008 to Elvin Nimrod, Deputy Leader of the opposition New National Party (NNP).
It is widely believed that Prime, a former Deputy Leader of the National Democratic Congress, is among several senior party members that Prime Minister Tillman Thomas would like off the NDC’s team for the upcoming national polls.
One weekly reported that Bernard Isaac, Treasurer of the NDC, was about to get the nod over Prime as the caretaker and potential election candidate for Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
Other unconfirmed reports have suggested that Education Minister, Sen. Franka Alexis-Bernadine, was being courted as a replacement for Labour Minister, Glynis Roberts, in South St. George; and businessman and former senator, Ken Joseph, was being eyed to take the place of Peter David, NDC General Secretary and Minister of Tourism, in the Town of St. George.
However, when the Carriacou and Petite Martinique executive of the NDC met last Saturday, February 17, at the Hillsborough Community Center, unanimous consent was given to a motion that named Prime – current Minister of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs – as constituency caretaker.
According to the motion, Prime was chosen after a “careful, methodical and exhaustive search’’ for a caretaker.
It resolved that Prime “be recommended, without reservation, to the National Executive of the NDC as caretaker for the Carriacou and Petite Martinique constituency.’’
The resolution dismissed as “pessimistic, mystical and mythical,’’ the idea that Carriacou is an “un-winnable’’ seat for the NDC, or that Prime should not be the candidate because of his two previous election losses.
It said that “cowardly giving up before the race is run’’ is “diametrically opposed to the high principles’’ of Prime Minister Thomas, who himself lost his seat on three occasions.
“Had the Hon. Prime Minister been dissuaded by those pessimistic values in his own constituency,’’ the resolution said, “our country would have denied the opportunity of leadership by a statesman of unquestioned caliber, and highly respected regionally and internationally.’’
At Saturday’s meeting, it was also demanded that Carriacou should remain the venue for the next general council of the NDC scheduled for Sunday, March 25.
Three of 15 constituency branches of the NDC – St. Patrick East, St. George North-East and St. John – have been pushing for a change in venue for the general council.
Delegates at Saturday’s Hillsborough meeting said, however, that any consideration to changing the site of the general council “will fan the flames of exclusiveness rather than the Hon. Prime Minister’s credo of inclusiveness.’’
They noted that for many years, the “loyal and patriotic Sisters and Brothers of Carriacou and Petite Martinique,’’ while incurring “enormous financial sacrifice and inconvenience to themselves and their families, never skipped a beat in attending party functions in Grenada. The financial fortunes of the people of Carriacou and Petite Martinique are far less bountiful than those of the mainland, especially in this difficult economic downturn.’’
They added that the “alienation and discrimination’’ that the people of Carriacou and Petite Martinique “willy-nilly have been subjected to, and have become accustomed to, at the hands of ‘Mainlanders’ is a fact of Carriacou life that the party must nullify, if the NDC intends to be evenhanded in giving Carriacou the best chance to arrest the seat from the NNP.’’
The resolution from the Carriacou and Petite Martinique executive of the NDC was being adopted as the party’s leader was huddled at the official residence of the Prime Minister in St. George’s in what sources described as a “strategy meeting.’’
The meeting appeared to have left out most of the senior members of the NDC and government, which was elected to office in 2008 with an 11 – 4 majority.
Among those known not to have been at the “strategy meeting,’’ having not been invited, were NDC Acting Chairman, Stanford Simon; General Secretary and Minister of Tourism, Peter David; Public Relations Officer and Minister of State for Culture, Sen. Arley Gill; Foreign Affairs Minister Karl Hood; Agriculture Minister Denis Lett; and Housing and Lands Minister, Alleyne Walker.
