by Linda Straker
- Convention at Grenada Trade Centre on 3 November
- Party functioning without an elected political leader since July 2018
- Highlights of internal session will be elections of a new National Executive Council
“NDC: Renewed, Re-energise and Ready to lead Grenada Forward” is the theme for the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) first convention since it was defeated almost 20 months ago in the March 2018 General Election.
The NDC which was governing the country during the period mid-2008 to February 2013 was defeated by a landslide majority to the ruling New National Party (NNP), in both the 2013 and 2018 general elections. As a result, there is no elected opposition in Grenada’s Lower House of Parliament.
The 3 November 2019 convention will be held at the Grenada Trade Centre and will have both an internal session which will be attended by delegates from every constituency support group, and an open session in the form of a rally.
One of the main highlights of the internal session is the elections of a new National Executive Council. The party has been functioning without an elected political leader since July 2018 when then elected Political Leader, Nazim Burke, resigned.
Burke who was elected as political leader in 2014 resigned during the party’s general council in July 2018. Several other executive members also resigned in the aftermath of the second defeat at the polls, among them Chairman, Vincent Roberts, and Public Relations Officer, Randal Robinson.
Following the resignation of Burke, the party appointed Joseph Andall to be the interim political leader until a convention.
Speaking about the expected new leadership of the new national executive which will govern the affairs of the party, current General Secretary, Glen Noel, said it will be a historic occasion for the party and its membership. “It will be a watershed moment,” Noel said during a recent interview with the Grenada Broadcasting Network (GBN).
In the lead up to the convention, the party has been holding a series of public meetings as part of efforts to update and mobilise supporters about the current status of the party. Following the internal session, there will be a public rally where the new executive will be presented to the membership.
