The Caribbean Community’s newest head of government is preparing to name a full cabinet then head to Suriname for his first regional leaders summit, but mixed messaging about political hires in the civil service has put a bit of a damper on the mood following last week’s general elections in Grenada.
Attorney Dickon Mitchell and his New Democratic Congress (NDC) routed Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, 75, and his New National Party (NNP) in nine of the 15 constituencies to send the NNP, which had amazingly won all 15 seats in the past two elections, into the opposition. In fact, Mitchell and the NNP had taken all the parliamentary seats three different times. Mitchell and Mia Mottley of nearby Barbados are the only two leaders in the 15-nation bloc whose governing parties had held every single parliamentary seat and had run their countries largely without any opposition in an atmosphere of peace.
