Grenada’s Governor-General, Dame Cécile La Grenade, has revoked the appointments of seven of the 15 constituency returning officers, and deputy supervisor of elections Ada Holder has reportedly resigned in protest.

A returning officer is the person responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of a constituency parliamentary elections office and, according to Alex Phillip, supervisor of elections, the Governor-General has the right under the law to make and revoke such appointments.

“The law provides for her to act in her own deliberate judgement, and all my office did was to forward the letters to the affected persons on her behalf,” Phillip said on Monday.

However, Phillip declined to comment on whether Holder’s resignation was linked to the revocation of the seven appointments by La Grenade.

“Yes, I can confirm that Mrs. Holder has indeed resigned, and that is all I will say. Her appointment was not revoked by the Governor-General, but she resigned as of last Friday,” he said.

The Parliamentary Elections Office is an independent office that reports directly to the Office of the Governor-General.

The action by the GG immediately triggered allegations of political interference in the electoral process, with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) describing the situation as a “crisis” in the elections office.

“This situation is unprecedented, particularly in an election year. The NDC sees this as a vulgar attempt to rig the election process and ultimately steal the election,” the NDC said.

The NDC said it has organised a march to picket the elections office in St. George’s on Wednesday beginning at 11:30 am.

“We need every patriotic Grenadian to come out in support of the march and show their support for an independent elections office, free of political interference… and stand in defence of democracy,” the NDC said.

Source: Caribbean News Now