BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Prime Minister Mia Mottley says she has invited observers from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Commonwealth to the February 11 general elections, even as the main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) reiterated its call to postpone the polls.
On Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer Sherland Turton confirmed that there had been no hiccups as political parties nominated candidates to contest the elections that Mottley called for a second time within at least one year remaining in her five-year term in office.
Mottley, who is contesting the St Michael North East seat on behalf of the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP), which has won all 30 seats in the parliament in the last two general elections, said the decision to invite the foreign observers was “to protect the reputation of Barbados..
“We spend our time trying to protect the reputation of this nation, and we go to great ends to protect the reputation of Barbados and Barbadians, and I am not going to, under any circumstances, agree that it should be sullied,” Mottley said.
She said she had already spoken to the CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett, and the Commonwealth Secretary General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and that she “will do what Barbados has never had to do before, because both political parties exercise a level of sober maturity in the conduct of elections before this moment.
“But I am not going to allow anybody to put this country’s reputation at risk. And I’ve therefore asked both of them. They know it is a late request, I’ve now signed the letters to them,” she said, adding that copies of the letters have been sent to President Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic and the chairman of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
She said the correspondence had also been sent to the opposition.
“We do nothing in private. We do everything in public, and of course, to the Cabinet Secretary, who has responsibility in the Central Government for the Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” Mottley said, insisting that her actions were a necessary measure to protect the integrity of Barbados.
“It is important, therefore, for us to invite independent electoral observers so that you don’t have to listen to me. You don’t have to listen to any of us. Let the independent observers cast a judgment on the conduct of elections in this country. It is an unfortunate moment, but it is a necessary moment to protect the integrity and good name of this country.”
DLP leader Ralph Thorne warned of irregularities in the voters’ list and that citizens could be disenfranchised in the general election.
While he provided no evidence of the irregularities, Thorne, a King’s Counsel, said he was also not at ease with the functioning of the EBC.
He told reporters that irregularities on the voters’ list had been brought to the DLP’s attention, adding that the names of deceased people were still listed, while others were not.
Thorne said that since last year, the government had been accelerating the registration of all eligible voters.
He said voting is a constitutional right for all Barbadians over 18, not a privilege, and that every citizen must be allowed to participate.
“If it is one person who is disenfranchised, that is one too many. The rights of one person are as sacred as the rights of 50,000 persons, and that one person, if denied, democracy has suffered injustice,” Thorne said.
In the 2022 general election, 266,339 eligible voters cast ballots.
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