The Keith Mitchell led administration of the New National Party which was elected on 19 February 2013 has concluded it first session of the 9th Parliament.
Her Excellency the Governor-General, Dame Cécile La Grenade, GCMG, by a Proclamation dated 28 August 2013, prorogued the First Session of the Ninth Parliament of Grenada with effect from 2 September 2013.
During the session a number of bills were approved by both houses. The most controversial of these were the Electronic Crimes Bill which was at one time withdrawn, and the Citizenship by Investment Bill, which were both among the last batch of bills to be approved by the Senate when it had its concluding session on 21 August.
A number of questions, especially those submitted by Ray Roberts, Labour Representative in the Senate, were also unanswered and he had sought permission from the President to print the questions in the local newspapers.
A date is yet to be set for the opening for the 2nd session, but it’s expected to resume during the month of October with the ceremonial opening of the Throne Speech from the Governor-General.
This will be the first throne speech of Dame Cécile La Grenade, as she was appointed after the opening of the first session. Former Governor-General Sir Carlyle Glean delivered the Throne Speech for the First session of the Ninth parliament.
The ceremonial speech outlines the plans and programmes expected to be undertaken by Government for the parliamentary year. Following the ceremonial opening, the next significant parliament activity will be the presentation of the 2014 budget, which Minister for Finance, Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, has promised will be delivered in early December .
By Linda Straker
