Grenadians are preparing to go to the polls on July 08 to participate in what many have dubbed the ‘Mother of all Elections.’ As the time draws closer and the mercury inside the political thermometer rises, the controversies, personal attacks, random acts of disturbances and mud slinging seems to steal the spotlight away from the issues that most Grenadians are concerned about: the high cost of living, unemployment, education and skills training and the apparent increase in the level of crime and violence. From all indications, there are two major parties contesting the general election – the ruling New National Party (NNP) led by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) lead by opposition leader, Mr. Tillman Thomas. A third party has been formed through a coalition of the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) of Reynold Benjamin and the Peoples Labour Movement (PLM) of Dr. Francis Alexis to contest the elections, however, the merger does not seem to be attracting the massive support that is seen at NNP and NDC political meetings. The two major parties have been resorting to using calypsonians, Gospel artistes, and regional entertainers on their political platforms to attract potential voters to their meetings. Hundreds of Grenadians could be seen on a daily basis either wearing their green jerseys (symbolizing their support for the ruling NNP) or their yellow jerseys (demonstrating their support for the NDC). At this time, the country seems to be deeply polarized and people are already talking about ‘yellow’ and ‘green’ constituencies. As would be expected, the political polarization has given rise to many skirmishes between supporters of the two major parties. Allegations have been flying back and forth about individuals who are involved in obeah, persons who have destroyed posters of candidates belonging to the rival party, the burning of party jerseys in political meetings, assault on members of the public and the general use of threatening language by some members of the public who are supportive of one political party or the other.Recently, an NNP billboard with the pictures of Anthony Boatswain, Carl Caton and Dr. Keith Mitchell at Sauteurs was ripped down and apparently slashed with some sharp instrument. The bitter campaign has infiltrated all forms of the media – internet, radio, television and print- as supporters strive to score political points against the rival political party. Rumors, unfounded allegations and highly embellished information seem to find its way into the public domain for public discussion and digestion on a daily basis. Members of Civil Society, who were instrumental is putting together a ‘code of conduct’ to guide the behavior of political candidates over the course of the election campaign, have voiced the concern that enough time is not being spent by politicians on discussing substantiative issues that affect the country at this time. The NNP has not signed the code of conduct citing concerns revolving around the apparent partiality of some key architects of the code and has expressed the view that they would do so (sign) if the Grenada Conference of Churches was given the responsibility to oversee general adherence to the code throughout the campaign period. As the wheels of the campaign machinery continue to turn, there is absolutely no doubt that the remaining few days before July 08 will be saturated with drama, controversy and political bickering. Recent opinion polls have suggested that the incumbent NNP should retain power, but by a slim margin. It remains to be seen how events pan out over the course of the campaign and whether the pollsters have been accurate in their predictions. Grenadian Connection wishes to encourage all politicians to stick to discussing meaningful issues, to refrain from using incendiary rhetoric to highly volatile crowds, to encourage their supporters to conduct themselves in an orderly manner at all times, respect members of opposing parties and to be prepared to come together with any party that forms the next government to continue the work of building Grenada. One love Grenada – let’s have a peaceful general election! By Wallace J.A Inside Grenada Correspondent