by Linda Straker
- Dr Keith Mitchell believes declaring 19 October a public holiday is controversial
- Government announced plans to observe 40th anniversary of death of Maurice Bishop
- Activity will form part of independence anniversary to be launched on 19 October
Opposition Leader Dr Keith Mitchell believes that the Government’s decision to declare 19 October a public holiday is controversial, and using that day to commence Grenada’s 50 years as an independent nation from Great Britain on 7 February 2023, is not smart.
“I think it is a very controversial decision; I think some people may be happy and some people will not be happy. I don’t think it should be twinned with the independence celebrations, it should be 2 separate events,” Dr Mitchell said in a news conference on Tuesday, 3 October 2023.
In a news conference on 19 September, the Government announced plans to observe the 40th anniversary of the death of Maurice Bishop, the country’s first left-wing prime minister, killed on 19 October 1983.
Head of the 50th Independence Anniversary Committee, Dr Wendy Crawford, said that the activity will form part of the country’s 50th anniversary of political independence to be launched on 19 October this year.
“Since independence is such an historic event for us, a period when we are given a time to tell our history, what better time could we ask for when the nation will be attentive to not only the celebration of our independence…and 19 October is a story that everybody has told, has written about, spoken about established the narrative and all of that came externally,” she said.
The Prime Minister announced then that 19 October will be a public holiday as of this year. For several years, there has been a call for the day to be declared a public holiday.
However, Dr Mitchell, who is the immediate former Prime Minister, said the people of Grenada should have played a more pivotal role before the day was declared a public holiday. “I do not necessarily think that this initiative is a smart one, but I think it is something the people should be much more involved in,” he said.
“19 October is a tough day for a lot of people in this country. Some people will be happy to have to revisit it, some will have to go through another set of trauma and difficulties. I think the Government is not assessing the situation as well as they should,” he added.
“I could not have taken the initiative to do so at this time without a tremendous level of consultation throughout the length and breadth of this country, because I think it is raising up a lot of eyesores that can be very tough for some people in this country. I see people break down about the loss of their loved ones on that fateful day,” he said.
If Dickon Mitchel don’t take charge of his party, he will end up like Uncle Tilman. Don’t allow the old revolutionaries minded med tell you what to do. there is no good in them. Know your history; they killed your leaders before you. not much to say but read between the lines. Celebrate our independence in 7th February please Sir!
What is this a debate after it was agreed in parliament…now this is just too much time wasting when these folks could be.busy trying to elect a new leader for the opposition for the next election where they may have good chance of getting back in power.
Please remember we will always have people in agreement and in disagreement with any proposal put forward by government.