ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada: Grenadians are returning to work Thursday at the end of the holidays expectant of a general elections this year and a prediction of better economic times following a tough 2002.

General elections could be constitutionally delayed until March next year, but popular wisdom here suggest it might well be called this year.

Exactly when it is called may be determined by how the economy performs and the relative state of readiness of the emerging opposition.

Sources close to the ruling new National Party said Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell was considering a poll in the first quarter of this year until his own public opinion poll showed that his party is not doing as well as expected.

Making an unprecedented15-seat sweep in the 1999 general elections, it was always felt that this will be a tall order to maintain.

But sources close to the party say a recent poll suggests that the ruling NNP can only be certain of three seats -- that of the Prime Minister, deputy Gregory Bowen and a rural seat held in parliament by Health Minister Clarice Modeste-Curwen.

"There goes your early election scenario for you," one party official told CARIBUPDATE news.

A local newspaper here predicted that the poll might now be held in the second quarter instead, maybe towards the end of June.

"It is really the prerogative of the prime minister and the truth is we don't know. I don't think he has really made up his mind really," a spokesman of the NNP said.

Party organizers have asked for three months to "make the ground decidedly NNP again", hopeful that a number of new projects in the New Year particularly the multi-million dollar port project would help spur economic growth and improve the national mood.

Ministry of Finance officials predict growth this year of 2.5 percent, a far cry from the economy which largely stuttered in 2002, causing both anxiety and fret among Grenada's restless population.

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell said however he believes the projected growth might be a conservative estimate expressing confidence that 2003 will be the year agriculture will bounce back and a new agro-processing sector would begin to flourish.

"The opportunities that the multi-million dollar cruise ship facility will bring to the tourism, agriculture and service sectors are far reaching. In addition to providing jobs for tradesmen and women, this long-term project will eventually touch the lives of farmers, fishermen, vendors, artists, craft producers and many other skilled workers throughout Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique," an upbeat Prime Minister Mitchell said in his traditional New Year's Day address.

"The decentralisation of the tourism sector will continue, with marina developments in Carriacou and Woburn, with hotel developments in the Parishes of St. David's and St. Patrick's, among other projects in the rural areas," Dr Mitchell added.

The government boasts an impressive record of infrastructural development, including the construction of a new general hospital with generous Cuba assistance, but questions remain about the management of a spiraling national debt, corruption and nepotism and its "human relations failings."

However the ruling administration at least says publicly that the national mood is upbeat enough.

But that, the government fears, can be spoilt by restless trade unions which seemed headed for a showdown with the Mitchell administration over new labor legislation trade unions argue will restrict their right to strike.

However the government has said the proposed amendment to the labor relations act is only to ensure stability and avoid wild cat strikes in key sectors.

The umbrella Trade Union Congress has warned of "industrial struggle to protect hard earned rights of workers" in a strong statement towards year-end which labeled the Mitchell administration "the most anti-worker government" in the history of Grenada.

Added to that, the Grenada Union of Teachers might demand new increases for a administration not in a position to pay.

There are signs of resurgence from the National Democratic Congress and the Grenada United Labor Party, though both are still seen as generally too weak at this stage to singularly challenge NNP.

While NNP showed up badly in is own poll, this did not transform into any runaway success for any one opposition party.

"But the mood of the country is decidedly anti-NNP and there is something there to work with," a senior executive member of the NDC told CARIBUDPATE.

Both NDC and GULP are holding party conventions this month that would set the tone for both organizations in a crucial year.

Gloria Payne-Banfield, a longstanding public servant who once served as Mitchell's cabinet secretary, is tipped to take over the GULP leadership and to stop years of squabbling in the party founded by former Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy.

She is also tipped to contest the South St. George seat, which observers here say might be the party's only real chance of being represented in parliament.

The image of NDC is beginning to change it is also believed here.

Long seen as a St. George's middle class party, it is beginning to, as one organizer put it, "take on grassroots elements.

Its weakest areas used to be in rural St. Andrew's and St Patrick's. Now some say those are among its strongest.

However concerns remain over its leadership.

Leader Tillman Thomas is uncharismatic and dour, though seen as honest. There has been even questions about whether he can win his own seat in St Patrick's East -- something he has not done for three elections now.

But NNP's own figures suggest that he is within striking distance this time.

"Tillman is beginning to emerge as a force in his area and this can only help his national credibility as leader," a former political organizer with the Caribbean Democratic Union who now lives in the area told CARIBUPDATE.

"Our figures show that we can win in St Patrick's East -- in fact in both St Patrick's seats. For people who are not on the ground, we have a few surprises coming," said Nazim Burke, NDC's Public Relations Officer.

"Having worked with Tillman closely over the last few years, I believe he is the foremost democrat among Grenada's political leaders. The nation is beginning to discover his virtue. He is a different kind of leader," Peter David, the party's charismatic General Secretary, told interviewers here.

"A year ago we felt we could have given a credible showing in a general election, now today we know we can win," he declared.