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Administrative divisions |
Thepolitics ofBarbados function within a framework of aparliamentary republic with strongdemocratic traditions; constitutional safeguards for nationals ofBarbados include: freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.
Executive power is vested in thePresident of Barbados, and is exercised by the President on theadvice of the prime minister and Cabinet, who together, form thegovernment.Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of theParliament. The political system is dominated by two main parties, theBarbados Labour Party and theDemocratic Labour Party. Thejudiciary of Barbados is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.
Many of the country's legislative practices derive from the unwrittenconventions of, and precedents set by, theUnited Kingdom'sWestminster Parliament; however, Barbados has evolved variations.
Thepresident of Barbados is thehead of state and serves as the repository ofexecutive power, as expressed in the Constitution: "The executive authority of Barbados is vested in the President." In practice, the president rarely exercises this power on his own volition due to the fact that the Constitution obliges the president to follow the advice of his ministers. As a consequence, the president is not held personally responsible for the decisions of the government.
Theprime minister is thehead of government. The prime minister is appointed by thepresident of Barbados, but to ensure the continuity of a stable government this person will always be the one who has the confidence of theHouse of Assembly to lead the government. In practice, the position usually goes to the leader of the political party that has the most seats in thelower house. In no Barbadian election has a single party obtained less than an absolute majority in the House of Assembly (a situation which would have entailed the formation of aminority orcoalition government).
The prime minister holds office until he resigns is effectively subject to a winningvote of no confidence[1] or is removed by the president; therefore, the party that was in government before the election may attempt to continue to govern if they so desire, even if they hold fewer seats than another party.Coalition governments have never occurred.
Political parties are private organisations that are not mentioned in the constitution. The prime minister and the Cabinet are constitutionally required to beMembers of Parliament so they can answer to Parliament for their actions. The prime minister selects ministers to head the various government departments and form a cabinet. Themembers of the Cabinet remain in office at the pleasure of the President.
If the Assembly passes amotion of no confidence in the government, the prime minister and the rest of Cabinet are expected either to resign their offices or to ask forParliament to be dissolved so that ageneral election can be held. To avoid a non-confidence motion from passing, parties enforce strongparty discipline, in which members of a party – especially from theruling party – are strongly urged to vote the "party line" or face consequences. While a member of a governing party is free to vote their conscience, they are constrained by the fact that voting against the party line (especially in confidence votes) might lead to expulsion from their party. Such an expulsion would lead to loss of election funding and the former party backing an alternate candidate. While the government likes to keep control in these circumstances, in unwritten practice, the only time the government can fall is if amoney bill (financial or budget) is defeated. However, if a government finds that it can not pass any legislation it is common (but not required) that a vote of confidence should be held. The exception is if the prime minister or the government declared that they consider a given bill to be a matter of confidence (hence howbackbenchers are often held to strict party voting). Members can be elected asindependents. Most independent members are elected under a party, but either chose to leave the party or are expelled from it.
When there are enough seats for another party to form a government after the resignation of a government, the president may ask the other party to try to form the government.
Barbados' Parliament consists of thePresident and abicamerallegislature: an electedHouse of Assembly and an appointedSenate. In practice, legislative power rests with the party that has the majority of seats in the House of Assembly, which is elected for a period not to exceed five years. The senate remains a body which is mainly filled by the decision of the official party in the role of being theruling party, and the member(s) officially in the role of being an official opposition also submit a cadre for membership to the Senate as well.
Summary of the 2022 Barbadian General Election
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
| Barbados Labour Party | 78,960 | 69.26 | –4.21 | 30 | 0 | |
| Democratic Labour Party | 30,112 | 26.41 | +3.77 | 0 | 0 | |
| Alliance Party for Progress | 3,090 | 2.71 | New | 0 | 0 | |
| Solutions Barbados | 784 | 0.69 | –1.76 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bajan Free Party | 191 | 0.17 | +0.10 | 0 | 0 | |
| New Barbados Kingdom Alliance | 122 | 0.11 | New | 0 | New | |
| Barbados Sovereignty Party | 120 | 0.11 | New | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 634 | 0.56 | –0.10 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 114,013 | 100.00 | – | 30 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 114,013 | 99.62 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 434 | 0.38 | ||||
| Total votes | 114,447 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 266,339 | 42.97 | ||||
| Source: Barbados Parliament[2] | ||||||
The parishes of Barbados are usually further divided into one or more constituencies for candidates seeking election to the House of Assembly. As of 1967, there are no longer any Local Government Councils at the parish level, as issues such as schools, public works, government health facilities and other institutions are administered at the national level. However, local representatives to the House of Assembly will usually be responsible for local causes and may take up issues with the respective Ministers of the Crown.
There are two major and long-standing parties inBarbados: theBarbados Labour Party (BLP) and theDemocratic Labour Party (DLP). The 1990s have seen the dissolution of a third party: theNational Democratic Party (NDP), and in recent times the creation of other parties such as thePeople's Empowerment Party (PEP),United Progressive Party and thePeople's Party for Democracy and Development.
Despite initial historical disparity (the BLP was once conservative and the DLP liberal), their modern incarnations are all moderate and largely have no major ideological differences. Electoral contests and political disputes often have personal overtones and voter sway tends to be based on tradition. The major political problems facing Barbados today are in promoting economic growth: creating jobs, encouragingagricultural diversification, attracting small industry, and promoting tourism.
The BLP decisively returned to power, after the DLP ruled from 2008 to 2018, after winning2018 Barbadian general election in May, 2018. The BLP won all 30 seats in the Parliament, leaving the DLP for the first time since its creation as anExtra-Parliamentary party, andMia Mottley becoming the first femaleprime minister of Barbados. This historic landslide victory occurred again for the2022 Barbadian general election with the BLP retaining power under the Mottley Administration, which was the first election following Barbados' transition to arepublic.[3]
The main political pressure groups are:
Barbados has an independent judiciary composed of Magistrates' Courts, which are statutorily authorized, and a Supreme Court, which is constitutionally mandated. The Supreme Court consists of the High Court and the Court of Appeal,[4] each having four judges. The Chief Justice serves on both the high court and the court of appeal. The court of last resort is theCaribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) inPort of Spain,Trinidad and Tobago (which replaced the British-basedJudicial Committee of the Privy Council). The CCJ's decisions are binding on all parties. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition.Supreme Court of Judicature judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Service.
