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BRIDGETOWN: Barbadian voters bought into the philosophy that they are “safer with Mia” wholesale and re-elected the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) into government with a consecutive clean sweep of the 30 seats in Parliament.
Preliminary results showed the BLP had won all the seats in the election, which Prime Minister Mia Mottley called 18 months ahead of the constitutional deadline, and in the process allowed the party to become only the second political organisation in the Caribbean to sweep all the seats in an election on consecutive occasions.
The other time that has been achieved was in Grenada, when Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell led his New National Party (NNP) in winning all 15 seats in 2018.
Reacting to the results on Thursday morning, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne said, "For my part I wish to sincerely congratulate the people of the Republic of Barbados on the peaceful conclusion to their 2022 national elections.
"I also warmly congratulate Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and her BLP team on the emphatic renewal of their mandate to serve that nation and her people. The Republic of Barbados continues to exemplify the strength of democracy within Caricom, and we can be confident that she will continue to inspire and provide good example to the rest of the world."
Mottley made it seven out of eight victories in the St Michael North East constituency, easily defeating the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate Damien Griffith by a margin of 3,216 to 476. Roy Turney of the BFP polled 48 votes.
Mottley, who had already signalled that this would be her last general election, told supporters she would be announcing her new Cabinet on Monday and that later on Thursday, she, along with Dale Marshall, will go to meet with President Dame Sandra Mason to be sworn into office. Marshall returns as attorney general.
Mottley defended the decision to call the election early, saying it was important to “take fresh guard” as the island moves into the future to deal with a changing global socioeconomic situation.
“I thank you, you the people of Barbados for accepting us at our word that if we do not fix our problems starting from tomorrow we will not be able to guarantee safety to our people in the next ten-15 years.”
Mottley said the three-week campaign had been “rough,” telling supporters, “We wanted to start 2022 as far as possible on a fresh guard…and you have given us that opportunity.”
She recalled that on May 27, 2018, she had told the nation that (from those) “to whom much is given, much is expected,” adding, “I repeat tonight that that is our commitment to you, the people of this nation.
”I promised you…we would be the opposition to ourselves and regrettably there were those who felt that they would spawn their own opposition and do the things that would make this country almost difficult to govern,” she said, an apparent reference to Bishop Joseph Artherly, who had been a member of the victorious 2018 BLP team, but left to become Opposition Leader.
Artherly, who headed an alliance into the general election, was among the victims of the new clean sweep.
“Tonight the people of Barbados have spoken,” Mottley said on Wednesday, vowing the new administration would continue to put the nation’s welfare above any parliamentary majority.
Mottley said she also wanted to address the allegation that her decision to call the election was to facilitate a one-party state in the country, “when in truth and in fact our Constitution admits in a multi-party democracy of the people giving all of the seats to one entity.
“I am a child of democracy, I know what it is to have known every single prime minister in this nation….and it is that solemn commitment in front of you, the people of this nation, in front of the people of the world and in particular in front of my parliamentary colleagues, that I swear today that we shall continue to keep the best precepts of democracy, transparency and accountability alive for the people of this nation.”
Earlier, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Verla De Peiza, conceded defeat, congratulating the BLP.
De Peiza, who led the DLP into a general election for the first time, was soundly defeated in the St Lucy constituency, considered a stronghold of the party, polling 1,095 votes as against 2,038 for the BLP’s Peter Phillips.
De Peiza said while she was conceding and congratulating the Mottley-led BLP, she had no immediate plans to step down as political leader.
“We will make those decisions at a later stage,” she said, adding, “I am proud of what I have established.” (CMC)
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