GRENADA

ELECTIONS IN 2003

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Chamber:
  House of Representatives
 
Dates of election / renewal (from/to):
  27 November 2003
 
 
Purpose of elections:
  Elections were held for all the seats of the House of Representatives on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
 
Background and outcome of elections:
  On 19 October, on the last day of his party's national convention, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell announced that general elections would be held on 27 November 2003, thus moving parliamentary elections up by nine months.

Some 65 candidates from five parties competed for the 15 parliamentary seats of the House of Representatives.

During the electoral campaign, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, who heads the ruling New National Party (NNP), expressed confidence that his party would be returned to office. He was seeking an unprecedented third four-year term, and cited his party' recent accomplishments as a government, i.e. the constructions of a new hospital, stadium, ministerial complex and cruise-ship pier. Nevertheless, Mr. Mitchell's economic policy over the past five years was the subject of harsh criticism from the opposition, which was spread across four political parties.

The main opposition National Democratic Congress headed by Mr Tillman Thomas focused its campaign on accusations that the NNP had wasted public funds and mismanaged the economy.

In the last elections in 1999, the NNP had won an overwhelming victory, obtaining all 15 seats at stake and Parliament was without an opposition until Mr Michael Baptiste left the government midway through the term and became the leader of the Opposition. He later joined the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP), on whose ticket he contested the 2003 elections.

According to election officials, voter turnout was high amid calm balloting. Police stated that there were no major incidents.

The NNP was narrowly returned to power as it had won eight seats, as compared with seven for the National Democratic Congress. The results represented a setback for Mitchell, even though he retained his St. George's West constituency. According to analysts, these were the most contentious and closely fought general elections in the island's 30 years of independence.

The seventh session of the Grenada Parliament was officially opened on 9 January 2004. For the first time in history, there was no unanimous choice for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The government had nominated Mr. Lawrence Joseph and the opposition Ms. Cecelia Quashie. Mr. Joseph was finally chosen after the first secret ballot. On the same day, Ms. Leslie-Ann Seon was unanimously elected as President of the Senate.
 
STATISTICS
 
Round no 1 (27 November 2003): Election results
Number of registered electors 82'270
Voters 47'239 (57.42%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers 249
Valid votes 46'990
 
 
Round no 1: Distribution of votes
 
Political Group Candidates Votes %  
New National Party (NNP) 22'566 48.02  
National Democratic Congress (NDC) 21'445 45.64  
 
Round no 1: Distribution of seats
 
Political Group Total
New National Party (NNP) 8
National Democratic Congress (NDC) 7
 
Comments:
Source: SPICEISLE.COM - Election Monitor

Currently there are 15 members and one speaker.
 
Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men: 11
Women: 4
Percent of women: 26.67
 
Distribution of seats according to age:
 
Distribution of seats according to profession:


 

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