Grenada opposition party makes clean sweep at the polls

Preliminary results showed that the NNP led by former Prime Minister 65 year old Dr Keith Mitchell won all 15 of the 15 seats contested. Mitchell previously led the country from 1995 to 2008. In the 1999 election he also had a clean sweep.

Mitchell, who will be sworn into office on Wednesday, said “I have asked Almighty God what have I done to deserve this, insisting “this is not a Keith Mitchell victory, it is your victory.

He said he wants his legacy of 30 years in public life to be “that I have done all I can to unite the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique”.

The sweeping victory stunned outgoing Prime Minister Tillman Thomas who was unable to retain his own seat. Thomas’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) had a torrid time in office resulting in the resignation or firing of ten key members of the party.

Among them were several key Cabinet members including foreign minister Karl Hood and tourism minister Peter David. Hood later threw his support behind the opposition and openly denounced Thomas claiming that he was incompetent to serve as prime minister.