By Youri Kemp From Caribbean News Now

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada — The New National Party (NNP), led by Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, swept the polls in a consecutive clean sweep election victory, winning all 15 constituencies in the Grenada General Election on Tuesday. This represents Mitchell’s fifth non-consecutive term as leader of the NNP and prime minister of Grenada, going into his 24th year in power.

In the last election in 2013, the NNP won in similar fashion, winning all 15 seats, which saw the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), led by then prime minister, Tillman Thomas, swept out of office after its first term in office.

The NDC then elected Nazim Burke to be party leader in 2013 after Thomas stepped down, to lead them into the 2018 general election, but lost by wider margins at the polls this time around that the NDC did last time, albeit with not as many registered voters turning out as a percentage of the electorate.

In the February 2013 general election, approximately 88 percent of 62,148 registered voters participated, or some 54,690 votes cast.

In Tuesday’s general election, the total votes cast was 57,236 out of 78,236 registered voters, representing approximately 74 percent voter turnout.

Preliminary Results

Seven of the 15 members of the new House of Representatives will be women. First time MPs Kindra Maturine Stewart, Kate Skeeter-Lewis, and Pamela Moses, will be joining returning MPs Clarice Modeste-Curwen, Emmalin Pierre, Yolande Bain-Horsford, and Delma Thomas.

Other returning incumbents will be Mitchell, Gregory Bowen, Oliver Joseph, Tobias Clement, Nickolas Steele, Alvin DaBreo and Anthony Boatswain.

Peter David, former NDC minister and general secretary of the party, and now assistant general secretary of the NNP, was elected in the Town of St George constituency on an NNP ticket.
While election observers from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organization of American States (OAS) were deployed, there were reports of inconsistencies in the ballot papers and other matters that may need to be addressed.