Adviser to Grenada’s Prime Minister attends NDP press briefing

The presence of Grenadian journalist Hamlet Mark at the press briefing held on Tuesday by president of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Arnhim Eustace was purely coincidental.

Mark, an adviser to the Keith Mitchell New National Party (NNP) Government in Grenada told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that he was in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) on other business, and hearing about the press {{more}}briefing, he decided to attend.

The journalist said he had nothing to do with the foreign policy announcement made by Eustace and had come to SVG to work on two regional news features, as well as a story on the Zero Hunger Initiative.

He said he was here seeking interviews with people, including Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves on the decriminalization of marijuana and the recent ruling by the Belize Supreme Court to strike down that country’s antisodomy law.

The adviser said he arrived in the SVG last Saturday and left on Tuesday night.

Saying that he “has his contacts in there (the NDP)”, Mark disclosed that he did know ahead of time that Eustace’s statement was on the topic of foreign policy, but had no specifics.

The NNP of Grenada is a fraternal party to the NDP of SVG and in 2005, the NNP Government switched relations from Taiwan to mainland China.

During the 2015 general elections here in SVG, Mark and his organization Caribupdate News Service provided extensive coverage of the NDP campaign.