ST GEORGE’S – Re-elected leader of the ruling New National Party (NNP) Dr Keith Mitchell is promising that young people will play a greater role in the future development of Grenada as the party prepares to contest another general election.
Mitchell, addressing the NNP annual convention on Sunday, said that the party, which has led the island for more than 20 years, will continue to place emphasis on housing, Information Communication and Technology (ICT) services, sports, and the leadership of young people for continuous growth and development.
“The governance of a country is not a joke. You cannot wade into the future with a complete disregard for the past. You cannot move into the future with a complete disregard for the past because the result is chaos and confusion,” Mitchell told party supporters.
He said young people are to be entrusted with the continuation of the development of the NNP, which was officially formed in 1984 and is the only political party in the Caribbean to have won all the seats in the Parliament during a general election three times, including on two consecutive occasions.
“We need our young people to ensure that our future is protected and remain relevant and current, we need experience a blend of youth and experience…they are so crucial,” Mitchell told supporters, adding that several young people will be appointed to key positions.
“As the party moves forward and transitions, it is not an issue of a time, it is a process, change is a process. We will be unveiling a number of youths at the political and technical levels to compliment the experienced tried, tested and delivered gurus of the NNP,” Mitchell said, adding that several current legislators had been chosen with youth and leadership in mind
“The process of change and bringing in young people was a continuous process,” he said, recalling the appointments of Kate Lewis, Emmalin Pierre, and Clarice Modeste who all became involve in active politics before the age of 30.
Mitchell, 75, who has already indicated that the next general election, constitutionally due by June 2023, will be his last before retiring from public life, said that the challenges facing Grenada are serious and the solutions will not be just the ideas of one particular age group.
“It is not going to be done by any particular age group, it is going to be all of us together, holding hands together with each of us having our own weaknesses because none of us is perfect but as we pull the team and the strength of that team the whole becomes a strong button to meet the challenges that we face,” he said.
“The economic challenges that we now face and will continue to face, the pandemic that we continue to face and the emerging crisis internationally,” he told the convention at which the featured speaker was the Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
The convention was held under the theme “NNP: Tested, Tried and Delivery” also included the election of a new executive with Foreign Affairs Minister Oliver Joseph being elected as chairman, replacing former minister, Anthony Boatswain. (CMC)