Last Monday night’s event at Happy Hill in which Dr. Keith Mitchell had a medical health problem that practically the world saw through video footage could have serious implications for the New National Party (NNP) in going forward.
That event should help bring closure to those who are suspicious of the real reason for Dr. Mitchell stepping down in December as Political Leader of the party and entrusting the job to his former Education Minister Emmalin Pierre.
There were many doubters about the true intention of the aging politician as to whether or not the hidden plan was to set up his former Education Minister Emmalin Pierre as “the temporary” political leader and to tact back later on as the real boss and to lead the party into the next general election.
THE NEW TODAY cannot see any such scheme coming to fruition as many Grenadians now hold the view that the ex-Prime Minister has health challenges which would not endear them to vote him back into office for another 5-year term as leader of the country.
Emmalin Pierre has no profile nationally and will struggle to compete with current Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell for the top job in the Ministerial complex in the Botanical Gardens.
There is nothing that the new NNP female political boss has done in the last three months to captivate the Grenadian people that she is worthy to become the leader of the country.
Her response to the 2025 Budget was quite ordinary and never seemed to trouble the new controllers in the Congress government.
The general feeling is that the new Opposition Leader brought nothing new to the table and was just regurgitating all the old issues that the party has been dealing with in their recent political meetings around the island.
She has been given a job with a major disadvantage and was never prepared over the years for the task that lies ahead.
Emmalin Pierre has to rely on Keith Mitchell for financial support to propel the NNP forward, as well as to bring out the party supporters at public meetings.
She has been too far back in the shadows of Keith Mitchell and his second in command Gregory Bowen and has limited contact with the major business leaders in the country to entice them to provide the kind of funds needed to do the work of the party for the upcoming general elections.
There are credible reports in certain quarters that with Dr. Mitchell political career just about over, some of the major financiers in the Indian Community have shifted most of their funds to Dickon Mitchell who is now seen as “the new Sheriff in town.”
It is also well-known that a certain family in the South who is involved in the tourism business and was major financiers of Dr. Mitchell over the past 25 years, switched sides and ploughed most of their funds in the 2022 election into the new Prime Minister.
The road ahead for the NNP will not be easy as Dickon Mitchell is way ahead of his rivals in cultivating a following among the young people of the country in the deliberate manner of dress, the articulation of issues and his demeanour in the public space.
It is a rather sad day for the political evolution in the country that Dr. Mitchell has taken the NNP down a slippery road because of his personal ambition and agenda to be the one holding all the political cards in his hands.
His actions over the past two-and-a-half years have been responsible for the NNP moving from six to four members in the Lower House of Parliament and the exodus of two of the three senators that were appointed to serve in the Upper House after the 2022 general election.
The first to depart was Member of Parliament for St Andrew North-west who received a tongue-lashing after informing him that he was being held responsible for the NNP loss because the electorate had become tired of his many years at the helm and felt it was right for another person to be given the opportunity to run the affairs of the country.
The departure of Delma Thomas and her decision to cross the floor to become a member of the new government opened up some new insights into the NNP which dominated the political landscape since the 1983 U.S-led military intervention to restore democratic rule of law in Grenada, after nearly five years of unelected leftwing government by the New Jewel Movement (NJM) of Maurice Bishop.
Delma Thomas told the nation that the next person who will feel and face the wrath of Keith Mitchell will be Peter David who expressed interest in taking over from him as the new party boss of NNP.
It was not long in coming as Peter David was subjected to the most vicious attack on a political figure in the country in the lead up to the NNP December 15, 2024 Convention in which Mitchell’s chosen candidate in the person of Emmalin Pierre was given the new role.
No political party in the recent history of Grenada has seen so much exodus of members like the NNP in recent months.
And from all reports the exodus will continue as some members in two key St. Andrew constituencies are planning their resignations in light of the controversial convention which many see as being “rigged” in order to put Emmalin Pierre in the top chair.
Another report coming to the fore in another of the St Andrew constituency in which the brother of the sitting MP is at loggerheads with the party and has decided to move out and give support to Peter David.
What is sad is that Dr. Mitchell seemingly has lost the way and cannot stop the bleeding within the party.
Like David Rudder sang in the cricket anthem (Rally around the West Indies), the great fast bowler Michael Holding should have left a long time ago and not wait to be pushed out, so too is the mistake made by Keith Mitchell by overstaying his time at the wicket and being fired by the electorate about three years ago in general election.
Dr. Mitchell has done everything since 2022 to provide the necessary conditions to allow Dickon Mitchell to remain in office on the Sixth Floor in the Botanical Gardens through a default victory at the polls.