As promised, Barbados has announced plans to remove Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and become a republic before the end of this year.
Mason said it was time for the island to leave its colonial past behind.
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley recently shared that the island will have a non-executive president and the new plans are expected to commence on November 30, which will mark the island’s 55th year of independence.
“On November 30th this year, our great nation which we love shall become a Parliamentary Republic,” she said while addressing an event to commemorate the Day of National Significance on July 26.
Mottley also announced that further amendments will be made to facilitate that transition to a new president to be sworn in on November 30. Immediately after, a new constitution will be settled on.
“Over the course of the next four months, we will start and complete the discussion to settle among ourselves what is that trajectory? What is the spirit with which we want to embrace both the Republic and the new constitution? Who are we? What do we stand for?
“And that conversation will be led by the Republic Transition Advisory Committee along with other members of civil society and the government because there must be a Charter of Barbados that is established and brought to our Parliament before November 30th such that we enter the morning of the November 30th committed to the Charter of Barbados that reflects the essence of who we are and what we stand for,” Mottley said.
Barbados will be following in the footsteps of other Caribbean countries like Guyana, which became a republic in 1970, Trinidad and Tobago (1976), and Dominica, which became a republic in 1978.
Jamaica, another major CARICOM nation, has also toyed with the idea of making the island into a republic but no administration has taken serious steps to do so.
