Grenada, Feb 19 – Sixty-five-year-old Keith Claudius Mitchell entered into the history of Caribbean politics when he led his New National Party (NNP) to a clean sweep of the 15 seats at stake in Tuesday’s general election, becoming the first political leader to achieve the feat, having previously done so in 1999.
Mitchell, whose NNP had been booted out of office in 2008 by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of outgoing prime minister Tillman Thomas, said, however, he hoped to leave a legacy of having united the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
Preliminary results showed that the NNP, which had only four seats in the last parliament, had been able to attract many of 62, 146 people who were eligible to cast a ballot in the general election.
“As I watched your faces through the campaign…I am even more deeply committed that all of us must be a united family,” Mitchell told supporters who had gathered at the Tanteen playing ground on the outskirts of the capital to celebrate the victory.
“I have accepted the awesome responsibility that you have placed on my shoulders, me and my team,” he said, adding he was accepting the challenge with “the greatest humility”.
Mitchell, who will be sworn into office on Wednesday, said “I have asked Almighty God what have I done to deserve this, insisting “this is not a Keith Mitchell victory, it is your victory.
He said he wants his legacy of 30 years in public life to be “that I have done all I can to unite the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique”.
The results was a bitter blow for Thomas and the NDC that sought to portray itself as a united party following the infighting that led to the dismissal and resignation of senior cabinet ministers including tourism minister Peter David and foreign affairs minister Karl Hood. (CMC)
