opportunities in the rest of the British West Indies or in Britain's North American colonies. Numerous Irish merchants in Antigua belonged to business families from County Galway, and several Irish-Antiguans formed relationships with Irish colonists in Montserrat. The Afro-Caribbean inhabitants of Antigua and Barbuda, who "account for about 91% of the country’s population", are primarily descended from African slaves who were transported from West and Central Africa during the slave trade, in regions such as the Bight of Biafra, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, the Gulf of Guinea, the Bight of Benin, and Senegambia. 4.4% of the Black Antiguan and Barbudan population are mixed-raced. Independent Antigua and Barbuda (1981–present) The islands achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1981, becoming the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. However, it remains part of the Commonwealth of Nations, and remains a constitutional monarchy, with Charles III as King of Antigua and Barbuda. King Charles III, head of state, is represented by Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda. In 1997, Prime Minister Lester Bird announced that a group of ecologically sensitive islands just off Antigua's northeastern coast, previously proposed for national park status, were being turned over to Malaysian developers. The Guiana Island Development Project deal, calling for a 1000-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course and a world-class casino, sparked widespread criticism by environmentalists, minority members in parliament and the press. The issue came to a head when a local resident shot the PM's brother. Today, the proposed development is mired in lawsuits and politics. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) won renewed mandates in the general elections in 1984 and 1989. In the 1989 elections, the ruling ABLP won all but two of the 17 seats. During elections in March 1994, power passed from Vere Bird to his son, Lester Bird, but remained within the ABLP which won 11 of the 17 parliamentary seats. The United Progressive Party won the 2004 elections and Baldwin Spencer became Prime Minister, removing from power the longest-serving elected government in the Caribbean. Baldwin was the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004 to 2014. In 2014 the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party regained power from a massive win with the leader being the "World Boss", Gaston A. Browne. A snap election was called three years later, and the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party led by the incumbent Prime Minister Hon. Gaston Browne dominated the elections with