The move affected five Cabinet ministers, but three considered their reassignments as demotions and stayed away from Friday's swearing-in ceremony.

In the new Cabinet shake-up – the second in his two-year-old administration's tenure – Thomas named Karl Hood to replace Peter David as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Environment and International Trade.

Former diplomat Dennoth Modeste was named as a new Senator to become the new Junior Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Glynis Roberts, the former Tourism Minister, would become the new Minister for Labor.

Church, the former Environment Minister, was assigned by the Prime Minister to become the new Minister of State (junior minister) in the Ministry of Works.

While the NDC still has a comfortable majority in the 15-seat parliament with 10 seats versus former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell's New National Party (NNP) with 4 and 1 Independent, senior NDC officials fear that the parliamentary ripples can turn into political shock waves if not calmed early enough.

This stalemate is the latest in a series of bumpy rides for the NDC since its 2008 debut, when it won 11 of the 15 seats to replace Mitchell's NNP after three successive terms in office.

The NDC is a coalition of left, right and center political elements led by centrist Thomas, a prominent island attorney. The government Thomas appointed after the 2008 elections also reflected that mix of political trends and tendencies.

With 108,000 persons, Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique became independent from Britain in 1974.