Historic occasion as Barbados’ first President elected

Another page has been written in the island’s history with the election of the first President of Barbados.

It happened during a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament this morning at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre where Dame Sandra Mason was elected.

27 ballots were cast for Dame Sandra in the Lower House, and in the Senate, 18 Senators voted yes – meeting the two-thirds threshold set by the Constitution.

There was however one unreturned ballot.

Earlier, Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn raised his objections.

Minister of Housing, Dr. William Duguid and Senator Lucille Moe were absent from today’s joint session.

Come Independence Day, Queen Elizabeth ll will no longer be Barbados’ Head of State.

In offering her congratulations to Dame Sandra, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley says the election of a President is a seminal moment in the journey in our continued growth as a nation.

She says many have asked why now, particularly in the middle of a pandemic.

Prime Minister Mottley says as Barbados works to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt to climate change, what will be required is what she calls “a Barbadian common sense” to keep us anchored.

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