Is Barbados about the replace The Queen?
The Caribbean island of Barbados aims to replace The Queen as Head of State next year, in a move that would end the four century long relationship between it and Britain.
The government aims to replace Her Majesty with a President by 30th November 2016, independence day for the nation, a local news source has revealed.
The Queen could be replaced in Barbados by a president. The Commonwealth
A fomer British colony, Barbados gained independent rule in 1961 and sovereignity in 1966, retaining The Queen as its Head of State. The British first landed on the Island in the early 1600s, colonising it a few years later under James VI & I.
It may not be much of a surprise, when the trajectory of government policy is looked at: Barbados adopted the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal in 2005, in place of the British Privy Council, and earlier this year, its Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart, remarked it was ‘a little awkward’ that citizens still pledge their allegience to The Queen.
For the plans to go through, the government, currently the Democratic Labour Party, must get a two-thirds majority in Parliament, so it is not a done deal for Barbados to become a republic.
The ruling party has a majority in the upper house, but not in the lower house. It is unclear as to whether Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley will support the plans.
Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago both became republics in the 1970s, Dominica upon gaining independence in 1978 and Trinidad and Tobago in 1976. Jamaica’s Prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has stated her Preference to remove the Monarchy from the country, though nono action has been taken.
