Above: MP and Former Tourism Minister Peter David
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Grenadian Tourism Minister Peter David resigned his position on Monday.
David, whose portfolio includes Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture, said he was “pushed into having to take this decision” after Prime Minister Tillman Thomas did accept a proposal that the Minister of Information retract public comments that “sought to bring the party and government into disreputes.”
David also mentioned an online video which he said aired “incendiary and unbecoming comments, almost bordering on slander.”
“It is well known that in recent times we have had a heated debate among our colleagues about the policy directions of this government and the need to act with more urgency to help the people of Grenada,” David said. “I have been put at the front and center of this debate which, in some instances, has been willfully misconstrued for what it is not.”
Grenadian Prime Minister Tillman Thomas said that, while the resignation “did not come as a surprise,” he was undeterred in his resolve to continue the government’s policies, and expressed his appreciation for David’s work in Cabinet.
In February, reports arose of a faction in the ruling NDC led by David, a claim put to rest at the time by Senator Arley Gill, press officer for the party.
“There is no Peter David faction in the NDC,” Gill said at the time.
The controversial comments were published by the Information Minister and, according to David, made in the presence of Thomas and Finance Minister Nazim Burke.
“That state of affairs made my continuation as a member of the Cabinet untenable,” he said. “It is clear that this entire matter is becoming too much of a distraction; and this gathering cloud of uncertainty is hampering the economic and social development of Grenada.”
David will remain the MP for the town of St George.
“This is a matter of conscience which I felt I must act on, and will leave it up to other cabinet colleagues, who have been similarly maligned and unjustly characterized, to deal with it in their own way,” he said.
David also said his position as General Secretary of the NDC will be up for review at the upcoming Executive Meeting, and said there may be issues for disciplinary considerations at the party level.
“I remain committed to the party, and I’m steadfast in my representation of the people of the town of St George,” he said. “The people of my constituency can rest assured that I will continue our current thrust to push on the issues of housing, land redistribution and jobs.”