Many Grenadians who grew up in the 60’s and 70s will often hear their parents and grandparents use the phrase that one swallow does not mean that winter is at hand.
THE NEW TODAY is warning the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be reminded of this saying and do not become complacent due to the large turnout of persons at last Sunday’s rally held on the playing field at Morne Rouge in the South of the island.
The NDC planners must be given a great deal of credit over the methods and strategies used to execute a most successful rally.
It cannot be denied that opponents of Congress would have taken note of the event as many political observers concluded that it was one of the biggest rallies held on the island post the 1979-83 Grenada Revolutionary era.
It appears on the surface that the NDC rally was much bigger in terms of crowd size than any of the mass rallies held by the New National Party (NNP) of Keith Mitchell at the height of his political prowess on the island.
This is important for Congress given the fact that this is “the political off-season” when parties do not hold mass rallies as the Prime Minister has not rung the bell yet for electioneering with an announcement of the date for the holding of the national poll.
The NDC must be on a high as it is the view of many pundits that the current list of candidates selected by NNP to contest the fifteen Constituencies is perhaps the weakest on paper by that party since the 1984 poll.
Former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and his successor Emmalin Pierre might have made a major political blunder by naming the candidates out of anticipation of early election in June and might have now boxed themselves into a deep hole and unable to replace any of them.
The NNP is believed to be very vulnerable in the Town of St George, South St George, St George North-east, St David and St Patrick West.
High-level NDC party officials have said that the rally could have been bigger as hundreds more of their supporters in rural communities especially in St Andrew did not show up at Morne Rouge due to the inclement weather.
If true this means that most of the persons at the rally came from the parish of St George where it is agreed that Congress is the dominant political force in that section of the country.
This might suggest that the NDC has a lot of work to be done in the rest of the country, especially the four seats in St Andrew, two in St Patrick and also in St John and St Mark.
The NNP must understand by now that its chances in the upcoming general election depends on its performance in some of the key constituencies in St Andrew.
There is no denying that Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell holds the key to the performance of NDC in the upcoming general election and if he can help bring home two or three NDC Candidates in St Andrew it will be game over for the NNP.
A key target for NDC and also the newly formed Democratic People’s Movement (DPM) of Peter David is the St Andrew South-east seat of the NNP Leader, Emmalin Pierre, the former Minister of Education.
DPM’s Yolanda McQueen, the multi-million dollar businesswoman associated with Mt Pure water bottling company, has been spending most of her time in the constituency especially in the key battleground area of Telescope.
A significant loss of votes in Telescope will make it extremely difficult for the Opposition Leader to hold onto the seat.
THE NEW TODAY would also like to make some passing comments on confirmation from the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) that it did arrest and lay charges on Dr. Terron Hosten, the Senior Surgeon at the St George’s General Hospital on allegations of assault in connection with an incident in “The Cocoa” in Paradise, St Andrew.
This is a typical case of RGPF demonstrating that all Grenadians are not being treated equal before the law.
The police kept the issue away from the local Media in what appeared to be a national secret.
The lawmen did not put this information out on any of its bulletins that will often be sent out to the local media and also plastered on its Facebook Page.
This Terron Hosten case calls for Grenadian authorities to put systems in place to ensure that all medical doctors, especially those engaged in conducting Surgeries at our hospital facilities, are often tested for alcohol and drug abuse.
No patient should be put at risk by any doctor who might be operating outside of the standard of behaviour that is expected of him/her especially at State institutions.
The ball is now in the Court of the Minister of Health to review the systems in place in the Health Sector to provide greater safety and security for all persons in Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique.