Above: downtown St George’s Grenada (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grenada will be holding its general election on Feb. 19, it was announced on Sunday.

The date was revealed at a rally of the ruling National Democratic Congress by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas.

“The time is right to seek a new mandate from the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique,’’ he said. “With God’s grace and guidance, we shall be victorious.’’

Thomas asked that the Governor General dissolve Parliament, officially “ringing the bell” for elections, although the date was not announced at that time.

The Prime Minister had said that was done to give extra time for Grenadians to register for the vote. In recent weeks, concerns had arisen over allegedly missing names from the country’s voter list.

Thomas’ NDC will be opposed in the vote by the opposition New National Party, led by former Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, and the upstart National United Front, which launched late in 2012.