Political system in Grenada – World Countries for Kids

Grenada is a parliamentary democracy where credible elections are held regularly. Enduring concerns include violence against women and children, corruption and discrimination against LGBT+ people.

Political Rights

The prime minister, generally the leader of the largest party in Parliament, is head of government. Following the June 2022 elections, National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Dickon Mitchell was sworn in as prime minister. Dickon Mitchell has been the leader of the NDC since 2021. He led his party to victory in the 2022 general election. The prime minister is appointee of the governor general, who is the representative of the British monarch as head of state. Dame Cécile La Grenade has been governor general since May 2013, after becoming only the first woman governor general of Grenada.

The bicameral Parliament has the directly elected, 15-seat House of Representatives for a five year term, and the 13-seat Senate appointed by the governor general. Ten Senate seats are filled on the advice of the PM and the remaining three on the advice of the opposition leader; senators also serve five-year terms.

The NDC was victorious in the June 2022 elections, winning 9 of 15 seats of lower house and beating the NNP government. Organization of American States (OAS) observers voiced concern over a lack of campaign finance regulations and other issues but reckoned that the polls were credible. Electoral laws in Grenada are fair in general, and they are ordinarily implemented impartially by the supervisor of elections, who heads the Parliamentary Elections Office. The uneven size of constituencies has led to distribution of voting power among citizens unequally.

B Political Pluralism and Participation

Political parties have the opportunity to organize freely. Though a number of small parties have competed in elections, the first-past-the-post system emboldens two-party politics, and since 1999 only the NNP and NDC have won Parliament seats. Feeble campaign finance laws potentially give rise to an unfair advantage for certain parties.

There are realistic openings for opposition parties to increase their support base or get power through elections, and power has rotated on a number of occasions since democracy was restored to Grenada in the year 1984. The NNP has won most of the elections since then, and the NDC unsuccessful in winning any seats in the House of Representatives in the elections held in 2013 and 2018.

People are able to express their political choices in general without facing pressure from outside actors. Nonetheless, the OAS has expressed concern about a lack of transparency and regulation of campaign finance procedures, which could open avenues for undue influence over both candidates and voters by business or other special interest groups.