Grenada Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Grenada

Type: independent state; recognizes Elizabeth II as Chief of State

Capital: St. George’s

Political subdivisions: 6 parishes

Legal system: based on English common law

National holiday: Independence Day, 7 February

Branches: bicameral legislature (15-member elected House of Representatives and 13-member appointed Senate); executive is Cabinet led by the Prime Minister; judiciary consists of Grenada Supreme Court, composed of the High Court of Justice and two-tier Court of Appeals

Government leaders: Sir Paul SCOON, Governor General (since 1978); Herbert BLAIZE, Prime Minister (since December 1984)

Suffrage: universal adult

Elections: last general election held 3 December 1984

Political parties and leaders: the New National Party (NNP) is the ruling party and is a three-party centrist coalition composed of the Grenada National Party (GNP), the National Democratic Party (NDP), and the Grenada Democratic Movement (GDM); former Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy revived his Grenada United Labor Party (GULP) in 1984; Grenada Democratic Labor Party (GDLP) formed by Marcel Peters, the only opposition member of parliament, who was elected as a GULP candidate but changed parties after he assumed his seat in the House of Representatives; the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM) was formed in May 1984 and is composed of

pro-Cuban Socialists; the New Jewel Movement (NJM) consists of supporters of Bernard Coard and other hardliners accused of killing Bishop in 1983

Voting strength: (1984 election) NNP 59%, GULP 36%, MBPM 5%, parliamentary seats—NNP, 14; GDLP, 1

Communists: the New Jewel Movement, which is currently trying to revitalize, and the less hardline Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement

Other political or pressure group-Grenada Democratic Labor Party (GDLP) is the official opposition

Member of: CARICOM, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, ITU, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

NOTE: The information regarding Grenada on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Grenada 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Grenada 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.