Monday, 23rd December 2024

Mia Mottley wipes out opposition in Barbados, as BLP win all 30 seats

The incumbent Mia Mottley received a massive victory in the first general elections held after Barbados became a Republic.

Thursday, 20th January 2022

Mia Mottley wipes out opposition in Barbados, as BLP win all 30 seats
The incumbent Mia Mottley received a massive victory in the first general elections held after Barbados became a Republic. The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) clean sweeper on all the thirty constituencies. The final result was announced at around 4:am on Thursday morning.  Without any surprise, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), under Verla De Peiza, including other parties such as the coalition Alliance Party for Progress led by former Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley, could not impact the electorate.  The polls were opened on Wednesday at 6 am, closed at 6 pm, while the counting started at 9 pm. Soon after becoming the world's newest Republic, Barbados PM Mia Mottley had declared snap elections in December 2021, adding that she doesn't want her nation to "welcome the new year by being a divided nation." [caption id="attachment_40032" align="aligncenter" width="567"]Mia Mottley wipes out opposition in Barbados, as BLP win all 30 seats Election map (Credits : Barbados Today)[/caption] In 2018, Mia Mottley became the first female Prime Minister of Barbados, and after the country cut ties with the British Monarchy in 2022, she appointed President Sandra Mason. It is currently the only country in the Caribbean or Latin America to have two woman leaders on the top chair.  Only sixteen seats are required to form a majority in the Barbados assembly, which is the country's lower house. At the same time, no elections were held for Senate as a total of 21 members were appointed directly by the President. Mia Mottley and her BLP highly focused on the housing structure of Barbados. She promised to build over 10,000 new homes islandwide in the coming five years.  Opposition leaders harshly lambasted Mottley for calling quick general elections more than a year ahead of schedule, accusing her of attempting to consolidate control. Mottley denied the claims, arguing the elections are merely a pit stop on the way to continuing to rebuild the country. As per reports, more than 5700 individuals could not exercise their right to vote due to catching COVID-19 illness. 

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