Politics of Grenada
Encyclopedia
Politics of Grenada takes place in a framework of a parliamentary
representative democratic
monarchy
, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government
, and of a multi-party system
. Grenada
is an independent country and Commonwealth Realm
. It is a parliamentary democracy whose political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. Executive power
is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government
and parliament.
Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. Grenada is a member of the eastern Caribbean court system. The Judiciary
is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Jurisprudence is based on English common law.
Grenada
is governed under a parliamentary system based on the British model; it has a governor general, a prime minister and a cabinet, and a bicameral Parliament with an elected House of Representatives and an appointed Senate.
Citizens enjoy a wide range of civil and political rights guaranteed by the constitution. Grenada's constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. Citizens exercise this right through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
Grenada has two significant political parties, both moderate: the National Democratic Congress
(liberal) and the New National Party (conservative). Minor parties include the left-of-center Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM, organized by the pro-Bishop survivors of the October 1983 anti-Bishop coup) and the populist GULP of former Prime Minister Gairy.
At the July 2008
election the NDC won a comfortable 7 seat majority over the government of former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell
. New Prime Minister Tillman Thomas
formed a government after narrowly losing by one seat to Mitchell's NNP in the November 2003
election.
Security in Grenada is maintained by the 650 members of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF), which included an 80-member paramilitary special services unit (SSU) and a 30-member coast guard. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard provide periodic training and material support for the SSU and the coast guard.
is represented in Grenada
by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet.
The leader of the majority party serves as Prime Minister and head of government. The cabinet consists of members, including the Prime Minister
and ministers of executive departments. They answer politically to the House of Assembly.
The Governor General appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Governor General appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom serves as the highest appellate court.
|Queen
|Elizabeth II
|
|6 February 1952
|-
|Governor-General
|Carlyle Glean
|
|27 November 2008
|-
|Prime Minister
|Tillman Thomas
|NDC
|9 July 2008
|}
has two chambers
. The House of Representatives
has 15 members, elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate
has 13 appointed members, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition).
, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol
, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WToO, WTrO,frat
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
representative democratic
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
, and of a multi-party system
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
. Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
is an independent country and Commonwealth Realm
Commonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...
. It is a parliamentary democracy whose political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. Executive power
Executive Power
Executive Power is Vince Flynn's fifth novel, and the fourth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counter terrorism unit called the "Orion Team."-Plot summary:...
is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
and parliament.
Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. Grenada is a member of the eastern Caribbean court system. The Judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Jurisprudence is based on English common law.
Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
is governed under a parliamentary system based on the British model; it has a governor general, a prime minister and a cabinet, and a bicameral Parliament with an elected House of Representatives and an appointed Senate.
Citizens enjoy a wide range of civil and political rights guaranteed by the constitution. Grenada's constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. Citizens exercise this right through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
Grenada has two significant political parties, both moderate: the National Democratic Congress
National Democratic Congress (Grenada)
The National Democratic Congress is a liberal centre-left political party in Grenada. Tillman Thomas is the party's leader, Nazim Burke is its deputy leader, and Peter David is its General Secretary...
(liberal) and the New National Party (conservative). Minor parties include the left-of-center Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM, organized by the pro-Bishop survivors of the October 1983 anti-Bishop coup) and the populist GULP of former Prime Minister Gairy.
At the July 2008
Grenadian general election, 2008
A general election was held in Grenada on 8 July 2008.Out of a total of fifteen seats, the opposition National Democratic Congress won eleven seats and the governing New National Party won four seats, thus bringing the NDC to power for the first time since 1995...
election the NDC won a comfortable 7 seat majority over the government of former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell
Keith Mitchell
Keith Claudius Mitchell is a Grenadian politician who served as Prime Minister of Grenada from 1995 to 2008. He was the longest serving Prime Minister Grenada has ever had, serving just over 13 years as Prime Minister...
. New Prime Minister Tillman Thomas
Tillman Thomas
Tillman Joseph Thomas is a Grenadian politician, currently serving as Prime Minister of Grenada. He is also the leader of the National Democratic Congress .-Biography:...
formed a government after narrowly losing by one seat to Mitchell's NNP in the November 2003
Grenada parliamentary election, 2003
General elections were held in Grenada on 27 November 2003. The New National Party government of Prime Minister Keith Mitchell won a third consecutive term with a reduced majority. Voter turnout was 57.7%.-Results:...
election.
Security in Grenada is maintained by the 650 members of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF), which included an 80-member paramilitary special services unit (SSU) and a 30-member coast guard. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard provide periodic training and material support for the SSU and the coast guard.
Executive branch
As head of state, Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
is represented in Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet.
The leader of the majority party serves as Prime Minister and head of government. The cabinet consists of members, including the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
and ministers of executive departments. They answer politically to the House of Assembly.
The Governor General appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Governor General appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom serves as the highest appellate court.
|Queen
|Elizabeth II
|
|6 February 1952
|-
|Governor-General
|Carlyle Glean
Carlyle Glean
Sir Carlyle Arnold Glean, GCMG is a Grenadian politician, currently serving as Governor-General of Grenada. He was the Minister of Education in the government of Nicholas Brathwaite from 1990 to 1995, after which he retired from politics. He was appointed Governor-General in November...
|
|27 November 2008
|-
|Prime Minister
|Tillman Thomas
Tillman Thomas
Tillman Joseph Thomas is a Grenadian politician, currently serving as Prime Minister of Grenada. He is also the leader of the National Democratic Congress .-Biography:...
|NDC
National Democratic Congress (Grenada)
The National Democratic Congress is a liberal centre-left political party in Grenada. Tillman Thomas is the party's leader, Nazim Burke is its deputy leader, and Peter David is its General Secretary...
|9 July 2008
|}
Legislative branch
The ParliamentParliament of Grenada
The Parliament of Grenada is composed of the Monarch and two chambers:*The House of Representatives has 15 members, elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies.*The Senate has 13 appointed members....
has two chambers
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
. The House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Grenada
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the Parliament of Grenada. It has 15 members, elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies. The members are, for each seat and party, listed below:-Summary 2008 election:...
has 15 members, elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate
Senate of Grenada
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Grenada. It has 13 appointed members; 10 are appointed by the government of Grenada, and three by the leader of the opposition. The current president is Joan Purcell, elected in 2008.-See also:...
has 13 appointed members, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition).
Political parties and elections
Judicial branch
West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada)Administrative divisions
6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint PatrickInternational organization participation
ACP, C, Caricom, CDBCaribbean Development Bank
The Caribbean Development Bank is a financial institution which assists Caribbean nations in financing social and economic programs in its member countries...
, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WToO, WTrO,frat