On 20 December 2007, Prime Minister Owen Arthur called early elections to the House of Assembly for 15 January 2008, eight months ahead of the constitutional due date.
Since independence in November 1966, the country's politics have been dominated by two parties: the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). In the previous elections held in May 2003, the BLP took 23 of the 30 seats at stake, while the remainder went to the DLP led by Mr. Clyde Mascoll. Mr. Arthur, who had been Prime Minister since 1994, was subsequently sworn in for his third term in office.
In January 2006, Mr. Mascoll resigned as DLP leader following a row over the party's leadership. He subsequently joined the BLP and later became Junior Finance Minister. A no-confidence motion against Mr. Mascoll was blocked on 4 December 2007, and the DLP boycotted parliamentary sessions until the House of Assembly was dissolved on 20 December.
On 26 November, Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Mia Mottley, announced that a referendum on whether to retain the British Monarch as on the country's Head of State would be held jointly with the parliamentary elections. The introduction of a republic, replacing the current commonwealth system, has been a long-standing promise in the BLP manifesto. However, on 2 December, Ms. Mottley announced that the government had decided to postpone the referendum due to a number of unspecified concerns.
Although two other parties - the Peoples Empowerment Party (PEP) and the People's Democratic Congress (PDC) - were also in the race, opinion polls showed the 2008 elections would be a duel between the BLP and the DLP, led by Mr. David Thompson.
The DLP had launched its election manifesto as early as June 2007, and appealed particularly to young voters. It argued that, after 14 years of BLP government, it was "Time for a Change".
The BLP manifesto included various tax cuts, increased state allowances to the poor and measures to increase home ownership, as well as a health and wellness allowance of 5,000 Barbadian dollars (US$ 2,500) per person. Prime Minister Arthur pledged to bring the country to "full developed status" by 2025. The Prime Minister accused Taiwan of financing the DLP campaign, an accusation strongly denied by the DLP leader, Mr. Thompson.
63.54 per cent of the country's 230,000 registered voters turned out at the polls.
The final results gave 20 seats to the DLP, including five first-time members. The BLP took only ten seats, losing 13, and nine ministers and junior ministers from the outgoing government were not re-elected. Three women were elected.
On 16 January 2008, Mr. Thompson was sworn in as the country's new Prime Minister. On 19 January, he named an 18-member cabinet, which was sworn in on 20 January.
On 12 February, the newly-elected House of Assembly held its opening session and elected Mr. Michael Carrington (DLP) as its new Speaker. |
