I am seeing a serious shake-up taking place in the St Mark’s Constituency.
This was the reaction of a longstanding political activist with the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) following the announcement Wednesday that former Acting Principal of the St Mark’s Secondary School Caris DeGannes will be contesting the seat for the party in the upcoming general election.
DeGannes was formally introduced to NDC members at a meeting of the Branch held Tuesday night at the Resource Center, upstairs the Daycare Center on Queen Street in the parish.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell and other high-ranking members of the National Executive of Congress were in attendance at the session.
According to the NDC official, since information started to circulate within the constituency that DeGannes will be in the race, the opposition New National Party (NNP) has been holding a series of “emergency meeting after emergency meeting” in connection with the new political development in the constituency.
St Mark along with St George North-west are considered as the two garrison constituencies on the island for the NNP over several electoral cycles.
The NNP has never lost St Mark since Grenada’s return to electoral democracy after nearly five years of non-elected Marxist rule during the 1979-83 Grenada Revolution of late Marxist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.
The NDC activist is confident that with DeGannes entry into frontline politics the NNP cannot see St Mark’s any longer as being safe for them.
He told THE NEW TODAY that DeGannes family is known to have been politically close to the NNP over the years.
He said that the mother of the prospective NDC candidate, as well as some others in the family circle have been supporters of the current Member of Parliament for St Mark, Dr. Clarice Modeste-Curwen who is not contesting the upcoming general election.
The NNP has endorsed medical doctor Myanna Charles who lives in the well-to-do Lance Aux Epines area in St George as its new candidate for the constituency.
However, the NDC activist pointed out that there are other members of the DeGannes family – like nieces, and sisters who are prepared to support Caris in her bid to become the new MP under Congress.
He described the new entrant into the political arena with NDC as one who possessed “all of the qualities, all the prerequisites, and definitely so” to be a good candidate to contest the seat in St Mark.
“There is no doubt about it and she is well-respected in the community throughout,” he said.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has already hinted that he plans to call the general election in 2027.