Former Executive member of the ruling New National Party (NNP), Terrence Forrester has given a clear signal that he is prepared to drop out of the race to get the nod in the upcoming general election as the candidate in South St George if the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) finds a much better candidate.
He made the disclosure one day after THE NEW TODAY broke the news that Congress leader Dickon Mitchell had brokered a deal Monday with a young businessman to become the choice candidate for the national poll.
“I am keen on becoming the Candidate for the South but if someone else is seen as the better Candidate to bring home the prize of victory in the South, then we all have an obligation and should support that individual to victory. Lots of work is ahead of us,” said Forrester in the statement.
The former Political Leader of the now defunct Grenada Progressive Movement (GPM) warned that “we must not forget the bigger picture or the prize to which we are fighting for.”
On Monday night, there was partying in an area called “The Stone” in Grand Anse apparently to celebrate the news that the businessman whose father is from the village will most likely run in the election on a Congress ticket against Infrastructure Minister Norland Cox who was endorsed at the end of January as the NNP Caretaker for the constituency.
The businessman is considered as one of the most formidable potential candidates to be recruited by Dickon Mitchell since taking over the NDC leadership on October 31, 2021.
Forrester called on the leadership of Congress to establish what he called “a small team” which can function as a “conflict resolution” group to quickly resolve issues or to pre-empt possible issues and out these possible fires with urgency”.
“There are too many areas where discord is brewing. It would be wise to engage these persons quickly and arrange compromises in the interest of fighting this battle as a UNITED team,” he said.
Forrester indicated that Congress can win the upcoming election and bring an end to the stranglehold that the aging 75-year old Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell has had on the country in the past 30 years.
“Change is around the corner but each of us must be united to a common cause in order to win the battle. We can do it. Let’s stand strong and together,” he said.
The NDC South St George constituency branch is due to hold its monthly meeting tonight at the Grand Anse primary school but the selection of the candidate for the national election is not on the agenda.
Forrester had also contested the post of NDC leader about four months ago but lost out to Dickon Mitchell, a relatively newcomer to the political arena.
There have been a few internal squabbles within some constituencies for the NDC in recent months especially on the selection of candidates to represent the party in the upcoming national poll.
The newlook NDC hierarchy under Dickon Mitchell, the 44-year old attorney-at-law, is said to be keen on giving the nod to former public officer, Gloria Thomas over Phillip Alexander as the candidate in the St. Andrew North-west constituency to challenge the incumbent, Social Development Minister, Delma Thomas.
Alexander who is considered as part of the “old guard” and lost at the polls in 2018, has refused to back down and is seemingly bent on taking the contest to a vote on the floor among members of the Constituency branch.
In addition, five persons have reportedly sent in applications for the St Andrew South-west seat held by Sports and Culture Minister, Yolande Bain-Horsford.
According to well-placed sources, one of the five is refusing to give the party hierarchy a commitment to give support to a rival candidate if he did not get the nod to contest the seat.
There are reports that Congress is looking to get a local pollster to canvass voters in some of the contentious constituencies to get an indication from residents whom they are willing to support on the slate.
Both the NNP and the NDC have intensified their political activities in all 15 constituencies in recent weeks, prompting political analysts to conclude that PM Mitchell might be thinking of setting the date for the election sometime between March and May.
The NNP has won all 15 seats in the last two polls in 2013 and 2018.