A tranquil, happy and beautiful island is this week mourning the loss of its Prime Minister David Thompson, who in January 2008 became the youngest ever elected prime minister of the Caribbean nation of Barbados, reportedly died on Saturday of pancreatic cancer at his private residence in St. Philip province, according to a government statement. He was just 48 years of age.The London-born premier had been ill since March and in a radio address to the nation last month told his citizens that he was shuffling his cabinet to pass many of his responsibilities to other ministers. In an admirable act he said he chose the radio as the medium through which to deliver his speech rather than television was so islanders would focus on his message, not his appearance since he was undergoing chemotherapy.
Mr. Thompson’s deputy Freundel Stuart was later sworn in Saturday as the island’s new prime minister with the next elections scheduled for 2012. In his first address to the nation as Prime Minister, the 61-year-old pledged to continue in the steps of his late predecessor whose contribution to public life he said was “substantial and wise”.
A state funeral will be held on November 3rd, with a memorial service to be held in the capital's Kensington Oval stadium.
