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Barbados calls snap election

Regional 03 Jan, 2022 Follow News

Mia Mottley addressing her supporters

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called a snap general election for 19 January. It’s a calculated call by Mottley on the back of Barbados recently becoming a republic and her popularity is backed by the knowledge of a landslide victory at the last election.

The move came just weeks after Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, becoming the world's youngest republic.

The island elected Sandra Mason as the country's first-ever president in October and she was sworn in on 30 November.

In a political address broadcast on social media, Mottley listed her government's economic and financial achievements. She added that Barbados' economy was recovering despite that the damage the COVID-19 pandemic did to its crucial tourism sector.

Several minority opposition political parties are holding talks with a view to forming a coalition to contest the election that Mottley announced last week, 18 months ahead of the end of her first five-year term in office.

Political observers say Mottley's Barbados Labour Party which won the 2018 general election by a 30-0 sweep, will face its sternest test from the long established Democratic Party that it trounced in the last general election.

But the outgoing Opposition Leader, Bishop Joseph Atherley has already announced the formation of a new coalition, the Alliance Party for Progress that includes the United Progressive Party led by Lynette Eastmond. Eastmond, will serve as deputy leader in the APP.

The leader of Solutions Barbados, Grenville Phillips II, says his party will be forming a coalition with three other undisclosed political parties to contest the polls.

In response to criticism of her government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mottley said that the country had entered a “silly season” and that it was time to put aside partisan squabbling.


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