James Fitz-Allen Mitchell — Wikipédia

Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell , born the May 15, 1931 in Bequia and died the November 23, 2021 In the same city, is an agronomist, hotelier and politician Vincentais, head of government of Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines twice from the April 14, 1972 At December 8, 1974 , then July 30, 1984 At October 27, 2000 .

He was the founder of the new Democratic Party in 1975. He made one of the longest mandates in the History of the Caribbean as head of government.

James Fitz-Allen Mitchell was born the May 15, 1931 at Bequia ^{[ first ]} . His father, a merchant marine captain dies at sea when James Mitchell at nine. He follows his secondary studies at the St. Vincent Grammar School  (in) , which he completes with an agronomy course at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture Then at the University of British Columbia ^{[ 2 ]} . After his studies, he worked in Sainte-Lucie in the cocoa industry in 1957, then as manager of agronomic research in Saint-Vincent from 1958 to 1961. From 1962 to 1964, he taught science in the United Kingdom. He then became editor -in -chief of Pest control , a publication of the British department for the development of overseas ^{[ 3 ]} . It was during his stay in England that he married Patricia Mae Mitchell his first wife ^{[ 4 ]} .

In 1966, he was elected for the first time to the Legislative Council during the general elections under the label of the Labor Party of Saint-Vincent-et-les Grenadines for the constituency of Grenadines ^{[ 5 ]} And he was re -elected during the 1967 elections ^{[ 6 ]} . However, he quickly separated from the government of Milton Cato to sit as independent. During the 1972 elections, he was again elected from the district of Grenadines as independent, while the Labor Party (in) of Milton Cato and the Popular Politics Party (in) D’Ebenezer Joshua each obtain six elected officials. Mitchell then alliance with the PPP and became Prime Minister in 1972 ^{[ 3 ]} .
Become head of government, and also the owner of a hotel in Bequia ^{[ 7 ]} , Mitchell announces to the annual congress of the Caribbean Tourism Organization  (in) In September 1972 that he wanted to develop tourism. In a discourse entitled To Hell with Paradise It proposes to build “integrated and native tourism” ^{[ 7 ]} . The September 18, 1974 , a vote of distrust causes the fall of his government and the elections are held December 9, 1974 . The Labor Party of Saint-Vincent-et-les Grenadines then won ten seats out of thirteen, but Mitchell and re-elected as representative of Grenadines ^{[ 8 ]} .

The December 3, 1975 , James Mitchell founded the new democratic party ^{[ 9 ]} . He led his party in the 1979 elections, but suffered a severe defeat by winning only two elected officials out of thirteen and Mitchel himself lost his seat. But, the candidate elected to the Grenadines, C.E. Cozier, resigned shortly after the elections and during the bypass election of June 23, 1980, Mitchell obtained 1742 votes against 584 for his competitor of the SVLP and returned to the Assembly and returns the chief of the opposition ^{[ ten ]} .

In 1984, the NDP won the elections with nine out of thirteen elected officials, and Mitchell became the second Prime Minister of Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines ^{[ 11 ]} . During its mandate, the country faces economic difficulties. In 1979, the Soufrière erupted, damaging agriculture and tourism, then in 1980, the Hurricane alien seriously damaged the agro-industry of bananas. In addition, the recession in the United States and the fall in the pound sterling compared to the dollar reduces tourist arrivals and banana exports. His government makes the construction of roads a priority, because it is necessary for the development of the tourism industry, which had exceeded bananas as the main industry in the country. Under its leadership, the economy improves regularly, with a reorganization of agriculture and a reduction in unemployment through the development of the construction industry. Another priority is education, which the government develops by making it compatible with the British system and by building colleges ^{[ 2 ]} .

James Mitchell and the NDP won a great victory in the 1989 elections by winning fifteen elected officials in the Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines assembly ^{[ twelfth ]} . He also won the 1994 elections ^{[ 13 ]} then those of 1998 but with a much less strong majority ^{[ 14 ]} . Despite the economic growth of his government, Mitchell has to face a united opposition within the UNI Labor Party (ULP) since 1994.
A wave of anti -government strikes and street demonstrations triggered by the approval by the parliament of new pensions and gratuities for parliamentarians took place at the beginning of 2000. In May, James Mitchel and the opposition leaders decides to ‘Organize elections before March 31, 2001, more than two years before the constitutional deadline. Mitchell resigns from his post the October 27, 2000 for the benefit of Arnhim Eustace. It is the ULP which won the 2001 elections with twelve elected officials out of fifteen ^{[ 15 ]} .

James Fitz-Allen Mitchell dies the November 23, 2021 at the age of 90 ^{[ 16 ]} . The government of Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines declares three days of national mourning until November 25th , with the soil of flags, and national funerals are organized ^{[ 17 ]} .

• (in) James Mitchell (autobiography), Beyond the Islands : An Autobiography , Macmillan Caribbean, 2006 (ISBN  9781405014175 ) .