Barbados Calls Snap Election Weeks After Dumping Queen Elizabeth As Head Of State And Becoming A Full Fledged Republic

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Monday (Dec 27) has called a snap general election on January 19.

The move came just weeks after the Caribbean nation removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and became the world's youngest republic.

PM Mottley, who is the leader of the ruling Barbados Labor Party and the country's first female prime minister, swept to power in May 2018 election. Her current term was till 2023 but she decided to go for an early election.

In her address to the nation, Mottley urged the people of Barbados to "unite around a common cause, unite behind a single government, unite behind a single leader."

Mottley listed her government's economic and financial achievements and said the economy was recovering despite damage to the tourism industry by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arguing that the country was in the grip of a "silly season" as critics attacked her government's response to COVID-19, Mottley said it was time to put aside partisan squabbling.

In October, Barbados, a British colony for more than 300 years, elected its first ever president as a prelude to transforming itself in to a republic by removing Queen Elizabeth as head of state.

In November this year, Dame Sandra Mason was sworn in as president of Barbados, marking the country's 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.

In October, Dame Sandra Mason was elected as the president by a two-thirds vote of a joint session of the country’s House of Assembly and Senate, a milestone, the government said in a statement, on its “road to republic”.

Dame Sandra Mason had earlier served as the governor-general since 2018. The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of Barbados.

Barbados is among the nine Caribbean countries in which the queen fills that role of head of state. Guyana scrapped it in 1970, less than four years after gaining independence from Britain. Trinidad and Tobago followed suit in 1976 and Dominica in 1978.

In 1998, a constitutional commission recommended that the country become a republic. Successive governments promised but successive governments have dithered on making the decision. In 2020, current government headed by Prime Minister Mia Mottley finally decided to dump the colonial legacy and transform the country in to a republic.

A former British colony that gained independence in 1966, Barbados is one of the more populous and prosperous Caribbean islands. It has long maintained ties with the British monarchy but calls for full sovereignty and homegrown leadership have risen in recent years.,

Jamaica is one big Caribbean nation that is still not moved to a republican form of government even though country's prime minister, Andrew Holness, proposed a referendum before his election in 2016.

British Queen also serves as the head of state of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and three Pacific islands.

Also Read: Barbados Sheds Colonial Yoke, Dumps Queen Elizabeth As Head Of State And Turns A Full-Fledged Republic