THE NOISE IN THE MARKET is not the SALE
* Most if not all of our news media including J.K. Roberts policy paper of May 26, 2021 are
currently informing the Grenadian public of an impending new political party in the making,
which is in transition from the newest Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), to wit – The
Grenada Movement (TGM), into a political organization.
* The general reaction to this event appears to be that of “euphoria”, as there seem to be a
glimmer of light from the dark tunnel of the state of Grenadian political affairs under the
visionless reign of the NNP administration; but Roberts’s policy paper mentioned above put the
Grenadian public on guard in the caption of his policy paper when he poses the question ”Would
the working class prosper with the Grenadian Movement?”
* It is now an open secret that for Grenada to empower its people from the remaining vestige
of NNP neocolonialism, and to make any relevant and significant progress in the 21st century,
which must be in the national interest and not as now obtained in the interest of the 5-10% of
the NNP political elete, there must be an urgent change in the political culture of our country,
which appears to be what this new party signifies.
* It is this perception which has put the NDC in an unfortunate position, as the 40,000 or so
supporters of this party have not witnessed any concerted action by that organization since the
loss of the election in 2018. The “SILENCE”, and what appears to be the incapacity to constantly
challenge and to seek reparation on behalf of we the people from the NNP in its
incompetence, arrogance, victimization and corruption in office, have not escaped the
electorate.
* The obvious question therefore is: “Has the NDC squandered its upcoming chances at the
polls”? Perhaps it is a bit too early to intelligently answer this question, but time is not in its
favour, and this scenario is what has made the current political dynamics interesting in the
TGM’s transition into a new, and what appears to be a dynamic force for change – change for
the better in the governance of our country.
* In passing, it must not go unmentioned that the pronouncement by Mr. Preudhomme in a
recent GBN Beyond the Headlines programme, when he indicated that systems are in place to
RESURRECT GULP. In my view, the latter-day horrors of Gairy’s mongoose gang and his culture of
rabid victimization, which continues unabated under the NNP – would render GULP’s attempt
back to democratic goverance an uphill battle.
* .The logical thought process must then enquire – “What is change for the better”? In a
recent GBN interview with political guru – Mr. Michael Baptiste on this subject, his insight was
very instructive : The political party in the making, he opined must be a grass root party which
engages the working class of Grenada, it must start from the bottom up in the revitalization of
the rural economy with special emphasis in Agriculture, in order to bring prosperity to the
masses and not just for those in the parish of St. George.
· He further emphasized that Dr. Mitchell’s remit is to build 5 star hotels, as the
economic saviour for job creation, which besides ravaging the environment of Pure
Grenada, in reality only benefits the CBI “investors”, but does not meet the needs of
the working population, for the obvious reasons – that the hotel industry is a fragile
economic base, as the pandemic has taught us – and in any case the labour force it
employs in construction, only provides temporary low paying jobs to able-bodied semiskilled
and unskilled men and a few women, while the Grenadian staff operating the
hotels are maids, gardeners and office helpers. ALL the middle and top managerial jobs,
both in construction and in running the hotels are filled by foreigners who repatriate
their earnings abroad; (Poor Grenada) – while we continue to remain a small underdeveloped
3rd world country of “hewers of wood and carriers of water”. to the CBI
landlords.
·We are now coming to the HARD question: How would change for the better be
achieved in the current NNP stranglehold of our democratic institutions? To bring about
the desired change would require a change of government. This can only be achieved by
the functioning of an ELECTION OFFICE that is independent as provided in our
constitution. The management and operation of our election office is anything but
transparent, and a free and fair election – in my view, is not possible under the present
construct, without a clinical and scrupulous rectification of the electorial process, with no
interference by the prime minister and purchasers of our CBI passports.
Would the TGM, however well received by the public as the vehicle for change be able to
rectify the electorial process before the next general election in 2023? If this is not one of
the .. first challenges on its election manifesto, then the noise in the market will
CONTINUE to be a .. noise – may be even louder as the oppression intensifies.
· In a related matter, reference must be made to Godfrey Augustine’s OUI CULTURE. On
one of his recent programme he questioned whether our culture to CHEAT, especially AT
ELECTION TIME, when the NNP uses the taxes of we the poor people to provide gifts of
new fridges, cookers and building materials in order to BUY VOTES, in a one sided
spending spree in order to hold onto political power, is acceptable and could be regarded
as a corrupt practice which must be abolished in favour of a level playing field.
· What Grenada needs urgently TODAY in my view – is the coming together (a
coalition) of ALL the small political splinter groups in ONE COHESIVE FORCE – so as not to
split the votes in favour of the NNP, under the banner of T G M; with the help of the
Grenada Bar Association, to robustly challenge the NNP in a class action legal battle to save
the country from imminent destruction by an EGOCENTRIC leadership that has long
outlived its productive life, and has now become a regressive incubus around the neck of
our country.
Norris Mitchell
8th June 2021