NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS: ONE YEAR IN POWER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GRENADA 000065

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EFIN SOCI GJ
SUBJECT: NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS: ONE YEAR IN POWER


1. (SBU) Summary: Prime Minister Tillman Thomas told the nation
on July 9 that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government
completed its first year in office with great success. His
speech skated over details and blamed the previous government
and the current economic downturn for making it impossible to
meet public expectations. The Prime Minister backpedaled on a
promise to reshuffle his Cabinet he had made to Grenadian
expatriates in New York in June on his way back to Grenada from
China, saying only that changes might be made in the future. A
few of the GOG's campaign promises have been met, but many more
remain unfulfilled. The population is showing signs of
impatience for the government to make good on its campaign
promises to provide open, transparent governance and to bring
investment to the island, creating much needed jobs. The
opposition issued its own report card, describing what it called
the "government's failings.

IT'S MY PARTY


2. (SBU) The Prime Minister's July 9 twenty minute address to
the nation was short on details as a stony-faced Thomas insisted
that the government had just completed a very successful first
year in office. The PM blamed the previous government for most
of its problems. In an increasingly familiar refrain, Thomas
condemned developed countries for mismanaging the world's
financial affairs which he averred is also responsible for much
of his government's inability to accomplish its goals. Notably
absent from the speech was an expected announcement of a Cabinet
reshuffle that the PM promised in a June visit to New York City.
He alluded to possible future changes but insisted that none
was currently needed.

"SAME-O SAME-O"


3. (SBU) The National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the July 8,
2008 election taking 11 of the 15 seats in the lower house of
Parliament. Voters appear to have opted for change without
necessarily strongly supporting the NDC. The margin of victory
was only 2,000 votes. Disappointment that the new crew's
behavior is not fundamentally different from that of the old one
has resulted in an increasing percentage of the population
decrying the "same-o, same-o" behaviors. Public complaints that
members of the Cabinet are more likely to be seen abroad than in
their constituencies have multiplied along with accusations that
the politicians "don't care about the people" now they are in
power. The New National Party (NNP) government appointed twelve
ministers. Upon taking power on June 9, 2008, the NDC appointed
sixteen ministers and a non-minister/non-politician Attorney
General. The NDC has provided jobs for the "boys", a practice
the party had heavily criticized when it was in opposition.
Grenadians expected that having more ministers would enable a
more productive government. However, greater efficiency has not
materialized. Since January, newspapers normally sympathetic to
the NDC, e.g., Grenada Today, the Grenada Informer, and the
Grenada Advocate have been running critical editorials and the
number of negative letters to the papers signed by people
willing to give their real names, has risen.


4. (SBU) There are a few successes. The Minister for Education
took office with a free school book program ready to go. While
it does not provide all the required texts, it does at least
reduce the number of books families' must purchase outright
(there is a small refundable fee to pay for administering the
program). The Minister for Finance, after initially claiming
the cupboard was bare and the ministry a wreck, has quietly
continued policies put in place in late 2007 by the previous
government to meet the country's IMF standby program
requirements. The Minister's decision to delay implementation
of a value added tax until 2010 and to limit the number of
companies it will apply to was very popular with the public, but
may come back to bite the revenue-strapped government later.
Already suffering from the drop in revenues caused by the
expiration on 12/31/08 of the five percent national
reconstruction levy (NRL),the announcement of a restrictive
application of VAT has led to speculation that some other tax
will be required as well to keep the government afloat; an
excise tax is under discussion.

COMMENT


5. (SBU) Not unexpectedly, the PM's anniversary speech to the
nation did not address the local perception that the government
is struggling nor that it is no different from the former New
National Party (NNP) government. It was left to opposition NNP
leader and former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell to point out the
problems that continue to face the country. A small core of
die-hard NDC-ites (which includes a number of local journalists)
still believes the country is moving in the right direction, but
the public is clearly impatient with continued excuses. The two
ministers who have been criticized the most are Minister for

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Foreign Affairs and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation,
Peter David, and Minister for Health, Karl Hood. David is
perceived as handling neither of his portfolios well, spending
more time on the road than governing. Members of the local
tourism association are openly calling for him to give more
attention to tourism or give the ministry to someone who will.
Hood, who has no health care background and appears to be mostly
absent, is criticized for allowing the junior minister (who is a
nurse by training but is not widely popular because of her
hard-line revolutionary views) to be the public voice on health
issues.


6. (SBU) Grenadians were waiting to hear how the PM would
reorganize his Cabinet, based on his announcement in New York.
Thomas' delegation stopped in New York City on its way home from
China (the group also made a stop in London) to meet with NDC
supporters. Grenada's political parties rely heavily on
expatriates in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, as well as on
countries like China, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Cuba to
fund party activities. Since the expats provide so much of the
money to keep the parties afloat, they believe they should have
a large say in how the country is run. There reportedly has
been a great deal of unhappiness among expats in NY with the
NDC's inability to get its act together in its first year in
office. The Prime Minister was apparently caught off guard by
pointed media questioning and promised a reshuffle of his
cabinet. Once back in Grenada, he seemed to regret making the
promise. In a testy exchange with local media on upon his
return to Grenada in late June, the normally phlegmatic Prime
Minister shouted that it was his decision to make and no one
else could tell him what to do. His July 9 address contained
only a vague reference to possible change at some undefined
point in the future.


7. (SBU) The NDC potentially has another four years before it
needs to call elections, giving it time to get its act together.
If party and government officials focus more on responding to
local concerns, ensuring that ministers are not overwhelmed by
their duties, and empowering the country's ambassadors and high
commissioners to act rather than flying ministers around the
world every few weeks, the Tillman Thomas government could
improve its governance.
MCISAAC