Ahead of Grenada’s highly anticipated 5 November 2026 general election, the heads of the three political parties fielding the largest slates of candidates have formally committed to participating in a landmark national leaders’ debate scheduled for Wednesday, 28 October, at the Grenada Trade Centre. Titled “Grenada’s Choice 2026: The National Leaders’ Debate”, the 2-hour event will kick off at 7 p.m. local time in front of an in-person live audience, curated to engage a cross-section of registered voters across the island. The non-partisan event is a collaborative initiative led by the Media Workers Association of Grenada (MWAG), Grenada Broadcasting Network (GBN), independent news outlet The Bubb Report, and the Grenada Conference of Churches, designed to foster transparent, solution-focused discussion under the core theme “The Issues. The Choices. Grenada’s Future”. Of the full runtime, 90 minutes will be dedicated to structured, moderated debate segments that leave limited room for unregulated grandstanding, per preliminary rules agreed to by all participating parties. The three confirmed debaters bring distinct, decades-spanning public service track records to the stage. Incumbent Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, a trained legal professional, rose to frontline national politics in 2021 before steering his National Democratic Congress (NDC) to a decisive general election victory the following year. Representing the official opposition New National Party (NNP) is Emmalin Pierre, a former educator and long-serving government minister who made history in March 2025 as the party’s first ever female leader, when she was formally sworn in as Leader of the Opposition. Rounding out the trio is Peter David of the Democratic People’s Movement (DPM), a veteran parliamentarian who has successfully contested the Town of St George constituency across four general election cycles dating back to 2003, with prior cabinet stints overseeing high-priority portfolios including foreign affairs, tourism, and agriculture. Organizers have outlined that the debate’s agenda will zero in on the most pressing concerns for ordinary Grenadian households: the lingering cost of living crunch and broader national economic performance, gaps in the public healthcare system, quality of K-12 and tertiary education, youth and adult employment generation, public sector governance, government accountability to constituents, and long-term sustainable development roadmaps for the island nation. Representatives from all three participating parties met with the independent National Leaders Debate Committee last Thursday to finalize remaining operational details, including formal speaking time rules, selection of independent moderators with no partisan affiliations, and protocols for the in-person live audience. Organizers note that additional announcements confirming moderator identities, full audience seating logistics, and free over-the-air and streaming broadcast platforms for domestic and global Grenadian diaspora viewers will be released in the coming days. The NDC and NNP are each fielding a full slate of 15 candidates across all of Grenada’s parliamentary constituencies, while the DPM is contesting 9 seats. A handful of smaller political parties are also fielding candidates in the 5 November election, but their leaders did not meet the threshold for inclusion in this high-profile leaders’ forum, per pre-agreed criteria set by the multi-stakeholder organizing committee. With only 8 days separating the debate from polling day, the televised and streamed event will serve as a critical, unfiltered opportunity for hundreds of thousands of voters to directly compare the three major parties’ policy platforms, hear leaders defend their past records, and clarify their stances on issues that will shape household finances, public service access, and national prosperity for the next full parliamentary term.