Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley seemed on the verge of a sweeping victory as preliminary results trickled in late on Wednesday from the Caribbean nation’s first general election since it became a republic last year.

Mottley’s Barbados Labor Party (BLP) went into the vote holding 29 of the 30 seats in the national legislature, and the prime minister was comfortably re-elected in one of the first constituencies to be declared.

Results came in piecemeal overnight and projections on local television suggested the BLP was headed for a decisive victory over the opposition.

Mottley had called the snap election in December, saying it would help promote unity as the government battled the coronavirus pandemic, which has heavily affected the tourism-focused economy.

About 5,000 people from a population of just under 300,000 were in isolation after being infected, recent official figures show.

The former British colony declared independence in 1966 but retained Queen Elizabeth as its ceremonial head of state until Nov. 30 last year. She was replaced by President Sandra Mason.

Reuters

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