PM Mottley sworn in

Hours after leading her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to a sweeping victory in the general election, Mia Mottley was sworn in as Prime Minister for a second consecutive term in office.

Following on a crushing 30-nil victory over her competitors at the January 19, 2022 poll for the second consecutive term, she was sworn in the first such ceremony after the country became a republic last November 30.

Clad in a loose-fitting, white elbow-length bell sleeved dress and her signature shawl, Mottley took the new oath of office on Thursday morning at State House, the official residence of the President, The Most Honorable Dame Sandra Mason.

The 56-year-old Prime Minister was accompanied by her dad Elliot Mottley Q.C. and mom Amor Mottley, some colleague members of parliament and party supporters.

Dale Marshall, Member of Parliament for St Joseph, also took the new oath of office as he was sworn in as Attorney General for the third time. Marshall was also accompanied by family members and supporters.

After the brief ceremony, Mottley thanked Barbadians for what she said was “a very clear and decisive mandate” for her government.

“We shall treat it with care as we have done before, and we shall endeavour to continue the process of transformation if our country is to be able to meet the challenges we expect to face in the next 10 to 15 years,” said Mottley.

Noting that we are living in a very “dynamic environment”, Mottley said while there were challenges facing the nation, there were still several objectives to be met.

“There is still the aspirations of development that we set ourselves as a nation when we became independent in 1966 – closing the development gap, eliminating poverty from our landscape, ensuring that our children can be educated to the maximum and to the best of their ability, and of course, ensuring that our people have affordable and equitable access to healthcare and above all else, that our people shall remain owners in their land and not tenants in their lands,” said Mottley.

She indicated that her new administration will continue to have “strong engagement” with global institutions and allies in order to achieve the fiscal and policy space “to do what we have to do”.

“At the same time, it also allows us as a small nation to be able to contribute in our own meaningful way to making the world a better place,” said Mottley.

The Prime Minister, who just completed her eighth general election to become the island’s ninth prime minister, created history as the only female to ever hold the office once. She thanked her supporters, pointing out that “they carried me”.

Marshall thanked the Prime Minister for her confidence in him to serve in his capacity, acknowledging that government had a lot of unfinished business.

“We left a lot of things still to be done and I assure you that immediately we will get to the heavy duties of carrying on with the business of Government,” said Marshall.
(MM)