By Kimberly Ramkhalawan
October 22, 2021
Come November 30, Barbados will make its own history in swearing in its first president, removing Queen Elizabeth as its head of state, even as it celebrates its 55th year of Independence.
On Wednesday, the Barbados’ House of Assembly and Senate voted in separate ballots for its sitting Governor General, Dame Sandra Mason to become its first president without no other nominees in the ballot. The vote was said to be 27-0 and 18-0 in both the house of assembly and the Senate respectively, all in favour of Mason. Prime Minister Mia Mottley described the vote as a “seminal moment” for the nation.
Both Barbados’s prime minister Mia Mottley and opposition leader Bishop Joseph Atherley agreed upon the nomination when the House of Assembly debated the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2021 on Tuesday after it announced its decision to move to republic status last year.
The move by Barbados comes 51 years after Guyana became the first Caribbean nation to become a republic, while twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago joined in in 1976 and Dominica in 1978. Other islands yet to make the move include Jamaica, Grenada, The Bahamas, St.Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda to name a few.
The move has not come without some concerns over how the process was conducted. The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) told this magazine a while back that “more thought” should have gone into the process. In addition, the DLP’s chairman said they were not given a voice in the process despite being in favour of moving the country towards a republic themselves.
Calling it a legacy move on the part of Prime Minister Mottley solely seems well placed, there was little information about how the process would play out from last year September when Dame Mason first read the speech from the throne announcing the move to a republic for the island nation.
We are reminded to mention that most federal republics fail, for various reasons. Outside of the most exceptional example of a federal republic in that of the USA, most federal republics go through a state change more than once. France is now on its fifth republic, with scores of other republics around the world that have experienced radical change in terms of coups or bureaucratic takeovers of entire governments or are simply dysfunctional and rife with political turmoil.
Whether or not Barbadians expected to vote for the president themselves or expected what they got with the parliament electing their president for them, is unknown because the process and public opinion tracking up to the point this week was nil. But the Queen is gone and that is an achievement within itself. The bravery of a little nation to want to do it all on their own is commendable.
Nonetheless, Ms Mottley’s legacy has been solidified in the annals of Caribbean history. We wish Barbados all the best in their quest for a better country.