MIA MOTTLEY at the Vanguard of new era as BARBADOS’ FIRST FEMALE PRIME MINISTER

Names country’s largest Cabinet and stays with the CCJ

By Rosie Awori

On Thursday May 24^th, Barbados ushered in a new era, as voters were overwhelming in their decision to elect Mia Mottley as the country’s first female prime minister.

Mottley led her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to a decisive victory over the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) grabbing all 30 parliamentary seats and delivering the first ever landslide victory in the history of the legislature.

The DLP had previously held a slim majority with 16 seats.

Mottley now joins a handful of Caribbean women who have had the privilege to serve their countries as Prime Minister including Trinidad and Tobago’s Kamla Bissessar-Persad, Jamaica’s Portia Simpson Miller Janet Jagan of Guyana and the late Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica.

Mottley’s victory has been received with acclamation all over the Caribbean and Latin America.

In separate notices, T&T’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley and Opposition Leader Persad-Bissessar have congratulated her and the BLP on what they described as her “historic” victory at the polls.

Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis The Honorable Dr. Timothy Harris also sent a congratulatory message.

“I congratulate you and the Barbados Labour Party on your unprecedented win at the polls, and subsequent assumption to the leadership of Barbados.

As you face the challenges ahead, I am confident that this overwhelming mandate will be used to provide a new opportunity to address the priorities of all the people of Barbados.” He said in a letter addressed to Mottley.”

Born Mia Amor Mottley on October 1, 1965, she is the granddaughter of Ernest Deighton Mottley, the first mayor of Bridgetown, capital of Barbados, who is said to have been “a huge influence in her life,” as well as her father, Elliott Deighton Mottley, a barrister who sat in the Assembly and her uncle, Ernest Deighton Mottley, who was a leader of another political   party, Christian Social Democratic Party.

As one of the youngest Queens Counsels in the country, Mottley charted a clear road map for her life and entered politics at the age of 26. At the age of 29, she was appointed Minister of Education Youth Affairs and Culture in the Owen Arthur’s government, making her the youngest to hold the post.

Mottley became the leader of the BLP in 2008 following the party’s defeat in the elections and the subsequent resignation of Arthur.

She has her work cut out for her, as Barbados’ economy has still not recovered from the economic crisis from the 2000’s.

Despite Barbados’ white sandy beaches, which are a major touristic attraction, the country is still encumbered by sluggish economic growth, high levels of government debt and shrinking foreign currency reserves. And now even tourism has begun to shrink.

Speaking after her swearing-in, she acknowledged the mammoth task ahead of her.

“ We are also are very conscious that were we only to stabilize the economy and not transform it, we would be doing a disservice to our country. We have to ensure we can leapfrog those who have passed us out, such that opportunities are there for our young people and our country as a whole,” Mottley said.

To help in the search for economic stability, she put into place the largest cabinet in Barbados’ history citing the scope of her victory and the task at hand.

“The Cabinet will be relatively large because I’ve not only considered the mandate given to us by the people, but also the scope of the work to be done, and the level of expertise that is at our disposal, among elected members. I’ve opted to share the workload across a significant proportion of the parliamentary group, rather than conform to the theory of a small Cabinet, thus creating an unrealistic setting for members to function effectively,” she was quoted as saying.

She also announced that she and her ministers would be donating part of their salaries to charity in a direct response to the 10% increase put into place by the administration of former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart in 2016.

Mottley was quoted as saying that she and her team “will not accept it (the pay increase) until the public servants issues relating to terms and conditions are appropriately resolved in this country” referring to unresolved labor negotiations in the country.

She also decided that Barbados will remain part of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which she cites as “one of the best examples of independence” in a court in the world.

It became a hot-button issue when former PM Stuart threatened to pull the country out of the CCJ, which is now its final appellate court.

In 2005, Mottley, as the country’s attorney general was involved in the establishment of the CCJ.

Mottley also announced that she is working with the governor General Dame Sandra Mason to amend Barbados constitution to allow for two opposition Democratic Labour Party senators to sit in the country’s Upper House, “because we believe that even though there has been no official leader of the Opposition, my government would wish to have accommodated, the views of the main Opposition party. “

She says if the DLP refuses the offer, the GG will be accorded the powers to appoint two other representatives from groups representing civil society to the senate.