by Nisha Paul

• Grenadians will learn official election date  on 4 October
• Last general election held on 23 June 2022
• NDC won 9 of 15 elected seats

The wait for Grenada’s next general election now has a date attached to it: 4 October.

That is when Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said Grenadians will learn when they will return to the polls.

“We will be blowing the conch shell in St Mark on October 4th,” Mitchell told supporters at a National Democratic Congress (NDC) party event in Perdmontemps, St David, on Friday night.

The announcement does not mean voting will take place on 4 October. Mitchell said that is when the official election date will be announced. The declaration comes as political parties intensify preparations and the timing of the election becomes an increasingly common subject of public debate.

Grenada’s last general election was held on 23 June 2022. A total of 60,853 people cast ballots, representing 69.49% of registered voters. The NDC won 9 of the 15 elected seats, while the NNP secured 6.

Under the Grenada Constitution, Parliament continues for 5 years unless dissolved earlier. The Governor-General may dissolve Parliament, normally on the advice of the Prime Minister, and a general election must be held within 3 months of dissolution.

Deputy Political Leader of the Democratic People’s Movement (DPM), attorney Arley Gill, believes the level of political activity happening on the ground points to an “election being called before the constitutional deadline.” Gill, one of 8 DPM candidates selected and the party’s candidate for St John, points to the growing volume of public and social-media discussion about when Mitchell will “blow the conch shell.”

Peter Wickham, a Barbadian political analyst and pollster, offered a more cautious reading. Wickham said he believes people around the Grenadian leader are pushing him to appear ready for an election, but questions whether the Prime Minister himself is showing the same urgency. “I feel that he’s being pushed by all (those) around him to appear to be ready and to move in that direction…my sense is that I don’t know that there’s a lot of urgency on his part, but I believe that he’s being pushed in that direction,” he told local media earlier this week.

He also argued that Grenada’s economy is in a worse position than when Mitchell took office in June 2022, while pointing to external pressures including the global political environment and the war in the Middle East.

Wickham believes the main Opposition, the New National Party (NNP), faces a significant political challenge, while describing the DPM’s task differently. He argued that the newer party does not necessarily have to displace an established party to influence the political landscape. “They really just have to pose enough of a threat to one or two political parties to force some kind of conversation,” he remarked.

Speculation has been growing on social media that the NDC could seek to turn its 9-seat majority into a 15-seat sweep. But that remains speculation.

Away from party platforms, the political conversation is often less about electoral arithmetic and more about everyday life. One sidewalk vendor believes the election should be called as early as tomorrow. “It could call tomorrow, please God, because the place tough and bad and rough,” she said, her prediction rooted less in political calculation than in the realities of making a living.

Another sidewalk vendor had a different response: “Ah doesn’t vote, so I can’t tell you.”

Another person said: “Ah doesn’t take part in politics.”

And a man passing by offered his own assessment: “It’s going good so far. I don’t have any issues. I’m just a neutral guy.”

Others offered different timelines. November. Early next year.

The responses underline the range of political interest from people closely following the campaign to others who say they “do not participate in politics” at all.

The prime minister used Friday night’s platform to begin making the case for another term. He urged workers to decide whether they wanted to go “backward” or “forward”, and said the NDC would continue what he described as “progressive policies supporting and protecting workers’ rights.” He also said he wants the NDC to return with greater strength and confidence.

Then came a more personal political message. Mitchell spoke of his desire to “sanitise” and “redeem” the Mitchell name in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. The remarks came in the context of the political legacy associated with his predecessor and namesake, former Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who has stepped away from electoral politics.

Dr Mitchell is no longer the NNP’s political leader or Leader of the Opposition, as Emmalin Pierre now holds both party and parliamentary opposition leadership roles.

Dickon Mitchell said he wanted there to be “no question” that there was not only “a good Mitchell,” but “the best Mitchell,” as he spoke about redeeming the name for another 5 years. The comments add a personal dimension to an election campaign that is taking shape around the government’s record, opposition alternatives and the issues voters say matter to them.

For the governing NDC, the task now is to make its case for another term. For the opposition parties, it is to present their alternatives. For voters, the coming campaign will bring competing arguments about the country’s direction.

But the first question has now been answered. The country knows when it will learn the date. On 4 October, the prime minister said the conch shell will blow. After that, the campaign will have a calendar and the political argument will move from when Grenadians will vote to what they are being asked to vote for.

The countdown is on.

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