ST. GEORGE ‘S, Grenada: Two Prime Ministers from the region are likely to be on the platform when Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell announces the general election date on October 19th.

Barbados' Prime Minister Owen Arthur and Jamaica's P J Patterson have been invited to share the stage with the Grenadian leader, it has been reported here.

Local station WE FM quoted the Prime Minister as saying that the two leaders will be here.

Looking to create a major impact, organizers are also hoping to stage a major free concert on that weekend, with reggae sensations Sean Paul and Beres Hammond under consideration. There has also been an idea to invite rapper DMX as one of the youth-pulling activities, CARIBUPDATE understands.

Newspaper columnist Lloyd Noel however said here Friday if October 19th is also used as a concert, it will be "an inappropriate use of a fatal and traumatic day."

It was on that date 20 years ago that Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was killed at the tail-end of a bitter leadership feud.

Noel told the Grenada Broadcasting Network that the date should be used more for reflection rather than for partisan politics and "casting aspersions."

Prime Minister Mitchell is set to announce the long-awaited date at the tail-end of the convention in the presence of the two leaders

It is the second time Arthur will attend a pre-NNP convention as the head of his Barbados Labour Party. He did so prior to its first victory in 1995.

The announcement of the attendance of Jamaica's Patterson is however more surprising since it was believed that his ruling People's National Party was more sympathetic to the opposition National Democratic Congress.

His party has previously provided low level organizational assistance, and its one-time general secretary D K Duncan and Beverly Manley, former wife of late Prime Minister Michael Manley were in Grenada last year for organizational sessions.

But Prime Minister Patterson and Mitchell is known to have a good personal relationship. Patterson was instrumental in convincing the Mitchell administration to send Jamaican-born Phyllis Coard back home for medical attention.

Coard was among 17 persons serving a life sentence for the 1983 murder of Maurice Bishop.

October 19th will be the 20th anniversary of his killing.

The presence of Arthur and Patterson is expected to give the ruling administration a major boost.

Observers here say it also shows the power of incumbency.

Two Prime Ministers from the OECS region backed out of commitments to attend last year's opposition NDC convention after the government had suggested to them at the diplomatic level that it will look as interference in national politics.

The ruling party looks increasingly in a campaign mood with almost nightly community public meetings which started this week. This Sunday it holds a national meeting in Crochu.

The Prime Minister is this weekend in New York, his fourth such visit there in recent weeks, and according to an official release he has gone there to talk to potential investors.

But there are also reports that the Prime Minister who has undertaken such whirlwind visits in recent times to Toronto and London, is also looking to raise more money for his party’s re-election campaign.

The significance of the date when the elections will be announced -- October 19th, has not been lost on many Grenadians here.

It was on that date 20 years ago that thousands of Grenadians in a show of people's power, freed Prime Minister Bishop from "house arrest", only for him to be subsequently assassinated.

The issue still divides many Grenadians.

Dr Mitchell romped to an unprecedented 15-0 victory in 1999 on a theme of national reconciliation, and subsequently set up a failed South African-styled Truth and Reconciliation Commission to look into the excesses of the revolutionary period.

His government also conditionally released Phyllis Coard, the lone woman convicted for the killing.

However faced with what some believe his strongest opposition, Dr Mitchell has abandoned talk about reconciliation, and party officials suggest he will lead a campaign that will suggest some key players in the National Democratic Congress, considered the strongest opposition party, had a hand in the demise of the revolution 20 years ago.

Newspaper columnist Lloyd Noel has accused the NNP of planning a convention for the 20th anniversary of the killing of Bishop to revive memories of the tragedy for political ends.

Party sources have said the timing for the date is no coincidence, but also think that it is fair game.

It is not the first time an incumbent Prime Minister has sought to use an emotional Grenadian date for general elections.

Ben Jones called in 1990 poll on March 13th, on what should have been the eleventh anniversary of the Bishop revolution when his ruling The National Party (TNP) was facing a surging NDC, then led by Sir Nicholas Brathwaite.


SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM