Politics of Grenada

Politics of Grenada takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government. Grenada is an independent Commonwealth realm. It is governed under a multi-party parliamentary system whose political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom; it has a prime minister and a cabinet, and a bicameral Parliament with an elected House of Representatives and an appointed Senate. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. Grenada is a member of the eastern Caribbean court system. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.

Citizens enjoy a wide range of civil and political rights guaranteed by the constitution. Grenada's constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. Citizens exercise this right through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

Grenada has two significant political parties, both moderate: the National Democratic Congress (liberal) and the New National Party (conservative). Minor parties include the left-of-center Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM, organized by the pro-Bishop survivors of the October 1983 anti-Bishop coup) and the populist GULP of former Prime Minister Gairy.

At the July 2008 election the NDC won a comfortable 7 seat majority over the government of former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell. New Prime Minister Tillman Thomas formed a government after narrowly losing by one seat to Mitchell's NNP in the November 2003 election. In elections held on February 19, 2013, Keith Mitchell's NNP swept all fifteen parliamentary seats. This historic victory was a repeat of the 1999 elections in which the NNP also swept all 15 seats. Prime Minister Mitchell has the distinction as being the only Caribbean politician to sweep all seats on two separate occasions. Constitutionally, this development means that there is no official opposition in Parliament. As such, Governor General Carlye Glean, who is the titular head of state, will appoint 5 Senators to the Upper House, who will serve as the de facto opposition.

Security in Grenada is maintained by the 650 members of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF), which included an 80-member paramilitary special services unit (SSU) and a 30-member coast guard. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard provide periodic training and material support for the SSU and the coast guard.

Executive branch

As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is represented in Grenada by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The leader of the majority party serves as Prime Minister and head of government. The cabinet consists of members, including the Prime Minister and ministers of executive departments. They answer politically to the House of Assembly. The Governor General appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Governor General appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom serves as the highest appellate court.

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II		6 February 1952
Governor-General	Cécile La Grenade		7 May 2013
Prime Minister	Keith Mitchell	New National Party	20 February 2013

Legislative branch

The Parliament has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 15 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 13 appointed members, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition).

Political parties and elections

 Summary of the 19 February 2013 Grenadan House of Representatives election results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
New National Party	32,031	58.82	15	+11
National Democratic Congress	22,160	40.69	0	–11
National United Front	186	0.34	0	New
Movement of Independent Candidates	22	0.04	0	New
Good Old Democratic Party	14	0.03	0	0
Grenada Renaissance Party	13	0.02	0	New
Grenada United Patriotic Movement	13	0.02	0	New
People United Labour Party	11	0.02	0	New
Independents	5	0.01	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	64	–	–	–
Total	54,524	100	15	0
Registered voters/turnout	62,243	87.60	–	–
Source: Grenada Broadcast

 Summary of the 8 July 2008 Grenadan House of Representatives election results

Parties	Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
National Democratic Congress	29,007	50.97	+5.4	11	+4
New National Party	27,189	47.77	–0.2	4	–4
Labour Platform	478	0.84	–2.4	—	±0
Good Old Democratic Party	3	0.01	—	—	—
Independents	12	0.02	—	—	—
Invalid votes	222	0.39	—
Total (turnout 80.3%)	56,911	100.0		15
Registered voters	70,869
Source: Grenada Broadcast

Judicial branch

West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada)

Administrative divisions

6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick

International organization participation

ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WToO, WTrO,frat