Barbados PM calls snap election for January 19, 2022 - Mia A. Mottley said it was time for the country to unite around a common cause & single government

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados- Barbados' Prime Minister Mia A. Mottley on Monday, December 27, 2021, called for snap general elections to take place on January 19, 2022.

Mottley made the announcement during an address to the Caribbean nation broadcast on her social media accounts.

The call comes just weeks after the Caribbean country became a republic and said goodbye to the British monarchy.

A former British colony that gained independence in 1966, Barbados in October elected Ms Sandra P. Mason as the country's first-ever president to replace Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Ms Mason was sworn in as president on November 30, 2021.

Need for unity around common cause- Mottley

In a 37-minute, political address broadcast on her social media accounts, Ms Mottley listed her government's economic and financial achievements and said the economy was recovering despite damage to the tourism industry by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Arguing that the country was in the grip of a "silly season" as critics attacked her government's response to Covid-19, Ms Mottley said it was time to put aside partisan squabbling.

"I need for us to unite around a common cause, unite behind a single government, unite behind a single leader," she said, pledging to support whoever emerged victorious.