Prime Minister Mia Mottley has firmly rejected rumours of an early election, asserting that her government is steadfastly committed to delivering on its promises to the Barbadian people.
The statement comes amid speculation that the ongoing We Gatherin’ celebrations could be the precursor to an early trip to the polls.
Mottley, who addressed a brief ceremony at State House on Wednesday, where ten Barbadians from St Lucy were honoured in the We Gatherin’ 2025 Honours for their significant contributions to community life in their parish, was adamant that the current administration remains unaffected by such rumours.
“I am comfortable about where we are, but I am not complete with what we have to do, and if we have work to do, I am not in any need for us to go and have the conversation [about elections],” she said. “It is other people’s business to want to speculate, to conjecture, but I regrettably do not have that luxury. I have to stay focused on delivery for the people of the country.”
Mottley said her administration’s attention is on enhancing the lives of Barbadians.
“This government, as I said in Archer’s Bay last week, is focused on delivering to the people,” she said. “The truth is that the Governor of the Central Bank will speak this morning (Wednesday), and when I saw his press release, it is clear that this economy is doing well. All of the indices are going in the right direction.
“Growth last year was four per cent, we have unemployment down to 7.1 per cent, the [foreign] reserves are strong [and] nonperforming loans are down. Even with all of that, this government is focused on getting some of the basic things right that we are still trying to deal with.”
Mottley stressed that the government continues to make headway in addressing several areas of concern for Barbadians—from healthcare to transportation and road infrastructure.
She added: “At Estimates this week, we . . . committed to the last tranche of 31 [Transport Board] buses. So between the 59 that we have, the 30 that are coming from the Chinese and the 31 that we are buying, we believe that we have put the Transport Board, along with the private operators, on a solid footing to be able to give good service to Bajans.
“We had bought some garbage trucks, and in order to go back to two collections a week, I am told that there is a last tranche that we would have to buy at some point in the next few months,” she added.
The prime minister expressed satisfaction with the progress the country has made since 2018, despite the difficulties in the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the focus now is on building a stable economy.
She said: “Having strengthened the body, the time now is to go and look at all the work you have to do on the little fine things to make the body work even better. The government is [comforted] by the fact that, certainly, the economy is strong enough now to allow us to take on certain things.
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