General elections were held in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

on 21 February 2013. They were the first post-independence elections where the election date was announced five years after the last general election. The ruling Democratic Labour Party was re-elected with a reduced majority, winning 16 of the 30 seats in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

Background

According to the

Constitution of Barbados The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law under which Barbados is governed. The Constitution provides a legal establishment of the Government of Barbados, as well as legal rights and responsibilities of the public and various other gover ...

, elections must take place no longer than every five years from the first sitting of Parliament.

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

: Section 61 (3): "Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date of its first sitting after any dissolution and shall then stand dissolved. (4) At any time when Barbados is at war, Parliament may extend the period of five years specified in subsection (3) for not more than twelve months at a time:" The last general election was held on 15 January 2008, while the first sitting of the current session of Parliament was held on 12 February 2008.Stuart’s dilemma
The Daily Nation After the

dissolution of Parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...

, the

Governor-General of Barbados The governor-general of Barbados was the representative of the Barbadian monarch from independence in 1966 until the establishment of a republic in 2021. Under the government's Table of Precedence for Barbados, the governor-general of Barbado ...

, on behalf of the Crown in Right of Barbados, must issue a writ for a general election for members to the

and for appointment of Senators to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

within 90 days.

: Section 62 (1) (2): "After every dissolution of Parliament the Governor General shall issue writs for a general election of members of the House of Assembly returnable within ninety days from that dissolution. (2) As soon as may be after every general election the Governor General shall proceed under section 36 to the appointment of Senators." The election and nomination dates were announced by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Freundel Stuart Freundel Jerome Stuart, OR, PC, SC (born 27 April 1951) is a Barbadian politician who served as Prime Minister of Barbados and the leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013; and from 21 February 2013 ...

on 29 January 2013. The

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In ...

deadline for candidates to register was scheduled for 6 February 2013.

Results

References

External links

Election results
By Nation newspaper
Election results
Voice of Barbados Elections in Barbados 2013 in Barbados

February 2013 in North America {{Barbados-stub

Background

Results

See also

References

External links