THE NEW TODAY has read with close attention and a great deal of care a letter sent by the Canadian-based Grenadian Researcher Dr. Justine Pierre to the General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Learrie Barry.
The letter noted that “the greatest challenge the NDC has is the Transformation agenda, which has never been operationalised even though it was one of the most important election promises.”
This might be true, however, the NDC biggest problem continues to be the party’s failure over the years to build a vanguard political organisation to reach out and touch the lives of not only its supporters but a much wider cross section of the people of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique.
This is largely responsible for the manner in which Congress has often squandered that opportunity given by the electorate to govern the country and after 5-years in office they find themselves in trouble at the polls.
NDC has consistently failed to understand that it is the party that wins the general election and not the performance of the government in office.
Today the decision-makers in NDC are again walking that dangerous pathway of not having a functional party to keep in touch with “the masses” while those involved in the government look after the affairs of the State.
Politics has evolved in the Caribbean beyond just “the rum and corn beef” scenario among the ordinary man in order to get his vote on Election Day.
All serious political parties in the region have a center which is used as the headquarters and to direct the work of the organisation in a professional and efficient manner.
The head office is run by a paid staff and is equipped with the tools to do the work of the party.
Two years and months after the party’s victory at the polls in June 2022, the NDC has not gotten it right and is operating in a kind of helter-skelter manner with even some of its supporters not knowing where the party head office is located.
The fact of the matter is that NDC does not have a place right now that it can point to as its head office.
In contrast, its main rival the New National Party (NNP) of Keith Mitchell has been able to win five of the last seven elections due to a far superior and much better organised political party with an action plan that operated on the basis of “pay to play.”
Dr. Mitchell has been assisted over the years by key political players both inside and outside of Grenada that helped him to create “a playbook” on the art of winning elections.
The former Prime Minister has always found the financial resources over the years to consistently win at the polls and keep the NDC in the opposition.
The current Prime Minister and his crew cannot hope to transform Grenada in one-term in office and need 10 to 15 years but must first have to develop the art of holding onto power and not remaining at the batting crease for only 5 years.
Congress can talk about a Transformational Agenda but need to be firing on all cylinders to achieve the goal – a government at work and backed and supported by a fully functioning and organised party machinery with a paid staff.
The days of voluntary work as the centerpiece of the daily operations of any serious political organisation are long gone and over.
Prime Minister Roosvelt Skerrit in Dominica was re-elected for another 5-year term in office in December 2022 and continues to keep his political party and machinery very active and on the job each and every day.
It is no secret that two Grenadians are engaged in full time employment work with Skerrit’s Dominica Labour Party (DLP) to make sure that it is always ready to go back to the polls.
Can the NDC truthfully say that it is ready to face the electorate this month in a snap election if called by the Prime Minister?
Despite its internal difficulties at the moment, the NNP will be a formidable opponent especially under new leadership as Dr. Mitchell will eventually come around to the reality that the people have gone past him a long time ago.
Due to its failure to engage in active and fulltime organised political work on the ground, the NDC has not been able to widen the gap with its opponent especially in some key constituencies in the rural parts of the country.
Congress has also continued to place a number of persons in key positions since the election, giving them handsome salaries but these individuals have no history of political work and struggle and will not make an impact for the party when the election bell is rung by the Prime Minister.
The NDC as a party will have to do some deep soul searching in order to position itself to kick start in 2025 the start of its campaign to seek another term in office as the NNP of 2024 will most likely not be the same party in the coming New Year.