Dame Sandra Mason has been elected as the first President of the soon to be Republic of Barbados.

But this morning’s joint meeting of the House of Assembly and the Senate, held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford was temporarily halted following the loud dissention of opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn.

Speaker of House Arthur Holder commenced the proceedings by informing the Parliament of communication from the Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley informing of the agreement with opposition leader Bishop Joseph Atherly to jointly propose Dame Sandra.

But before the matter could be put to the vote Senator Franklyn loudly objected to the process resulting in an exchange between him and the President of the Senate Reginald Farley

Senator Franklyn refused to back down despite warnings from the President of the Senate and eventually left the Chamber without taking part in the vote.

The vote went ahead and the Speaker of the House announced the result.

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley praised the qualities of the new President and highlighted the significance of the moment.