BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Government and opposition lawmakers Tuesday closed ranks and elected retired Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Davidson Bostic as Barbados’ second president.
None of the legislators in the two Houses of Parliament raised any objection to the election of Bostic, who will replace Dame Sandra Mason and assume office on Independence Day, during a transition ceremony marking Barbados’ 59th anniversary of Independence from Britain on November 30.
His election was greeted with loud desk-thumping from members of the ruling Barbados Labor Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
Bostic’s nomination had been jointly submitted by Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne, and political commentators said that his unanimous endorsement reflected widespread confidence in his leadership, experience, and unifying presence.
The former health minister and University of the West Indies graduate served as the director of operations at the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS) before retiring from active military service.
He later entered public office, representing the City of Bridgetown and serving as Minister of Health and Wellness from 2018 until he retired from public life in 2022. In recognition of his service, he was awarded the Order of Freedom of Barbados, the island’s highest national honor.
The Speaker of the St. Lucia Parliament, Claudius Francis, who attended the parliamentary session on Tuesday, described the event as a “moment of Republican maturity.
“The occasion was solemn, dignified, and quietly momentous. It marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
“Bostic brings to the presidency a reputation for discipline, service, and quiet resolve. His elevation was expected, yet it carried the weight of continuity and national confidence,” he said, noting that in “a political climate often marked by sharp division and rhetorical sparring, Thorne’s unfiltered support was anything but regular.
“It was a gesture of national unity, a moment of statesmanship that transcended party lines. His words, devoid of hedging or partisan caveats, signaled a maturity in political discourse that Barbados—and indeed the wider Caribbean—should take note of,” Francis wrote.
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