Political system
Short for GD by Abbreviationfinder, Grenada has been an independent republic within the Commonwealth since 1974 with a two-chamber parliament and a general governor representing the head of state, the British monarch. Party politics are characterized by personal contradictions, which has led to a number of outbursts and new party formation. The legal system is based on the British.
The government has the executive power and is responsible to the legislative parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives with 15 members and the Senate with 13 senators. The House of Representatives is elected in general elections for a maximum of five years. The members of the Senate are appointed by the Governor-General: ten are proposed by the Prime Minister and three by the leader of the largest opposition party. The voting age is 18 years.
- Countryaah: Total population and chart of Grenada for years of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Also covers population density, birth rate, death rate and population growth rates.
Administratively, Grenada is divided into six municipalities (parishes) and a subordinate area (dependency): Carriacou and Petite Martinique (which are two islands in the Grenadines).
Political parties
Party politics are characterized by personal contradictions. Most parties have been founded since 1983 (see Modern History). Nowadays, there are two main opponents in politics: the conservative and nationalist New National Party (NNP) and the Liberal Party National Democratic Congress (National Democratic Congress, NDC) formed by outbreakers from the NNP in 1987. NNP received almost 60 percent of the the votes and all the seats in the House of Representatives in both 2013 and 2018.
The judiciary and human rights
The judiciary is structured according to British design and the courts have an independent position. Judgments can be appealed to an East Caribbean Supreme Court in Saint Lucia and on to the British Council of Ministers’ Legal Committee in London, the Privy Council. Grenada has joined the Caribbean Court of Justice (Caribbean Court of Justice, CCJ) in Trinidad and Tobago, which was inaugurated in 2005, but has not yet taken it over as the country’s highest court. The CCJ, which was formed by the countries of the Caribbean cooperation organization Caricom, is intended to serve as both the highest legal body for member countries and as a court for, for example, trade disputes within the organization.
The death penalty is still there, but no executions have been carried out since 1978.
Grenada has a relatively good reputation in respect of human rights, although the police are often accused of corruption and abuse of power. Another problem is that the country’s only prison is often overcrowded. Grenada has been criticized for dealing with the 17 convicted of the 1983 murders of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and his supporters. The human rights organization Amnesty International described them as political prisoners and claimed that grave errors were committed during the trial (see Modern History). In 2009, the remaining seven convicted were released after serving their sentence.
