by Linda Straker
- Prime Minister would like to see term limits for Prime Minister and Governor-General
- Referendum required for Grenada to cease being a constitutional monarchy and become a republic
- Both 2016 and 2017 referendums failed
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has disclosed that his administration has no plans to introduce constitutional changes that will result in term limits for the Head of Government as well as the Head of State.
“At this stage there are no plans to change the constitution to introduce that,” he said while responding to a question during the weekly Tuesday “DM with the PM” a social media interactive programme with followers on his social media page. The format of the programme requires the audience to submit questions in advance or live and he will provide answers to concerns and inquiries.
Though admitting that he would like to see term limits for the Prime Minister and the Governor-General, he said that such changes were rejected by the Grenadian people during the 2016 referendum when Grenadian voted on 7 bills seeking to amend several sections of the Constitution.
All bills failed to acquire the required percentage of vote to change the constitution. A second referendum held in 2017 to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the final appellate court for Grenada also failed.
“Currently, no; Grenada had two referenda on those issues, the population voted no when the matter was brought up, so at this stage our administration does not plan to introduce term limits,” he told programme host Aruna Neptune. “Personally, I am in favour of term limits. Personally, I think it’s healthy to have change at the top of the leadership that is time-bound and predictable, that allows other persons to have the ambition to also want to get to that position as well. Each generation, I think, deserves leadership that is reflective of that generation,” he said.
This latest disclosure from Prime Minister Mitchell is contrary to his 2023 announcement that he would like to see Grenada become a republic in his lifetime and cease being a constitutional monarchy, because to switch from one to the other will require a referendum.
