Barbados dejará de reconocer a Isabel II como jefa de Estado y se convertirá en República
Esta nación caribeña planea destituir a la reina británica como jefa de Estado y convertirse en república
Barbados ha anunciado su intención de convertirse en república y destituir a la reina Isabel del Reino Unido como jefa de Estado para noviembre del próximo año, reseña The Guardian. El plan fue revelado por la gobernadora general de la nación caribeña, Sandra Mason.
Durante la apertura de una sesión del Parlamento barbadense, Mason señaló que la Administración de la primera ministra Mia Mottley dará el «siguiente paso lógico» para convertir a Barbados en una república a tiempo para el 55 aniversario de la Independencia del país en noviembre de 2021.
«Ha llegado el momento de dejar completamente atrás nuestro pasado colonial. Los barbadenses quieren un jefe de Estado de Barbados. Esta es la máxima declaración de confianza en quiénes somos y en lo que somos capaces de lograr», afirmó la gobernadora general, citando a Mottley.
El país obtuvo su independencia del Reino Unido en 1966, aunque la reina británica sigue siendo su monarca constitucional y jefa de Estado.
En 1998, una comisión de revisión constitucional de Barbados recomendó el estatus republicano. En 2015, el entonces primer ministro Freundel Stuart afirmó que el país tiene que «pasar de un sistema monárquico a una forma de gobierno republicano en un futuro muy cercano».
La mayoría de los Estados de la Comunidad del Caribe (Caricom), formada por 15 naciones caribeñas (principalmente anglófonas) y dependencias británicas, mantuvieron vínculos formales con la monarquía británica después de obtener su independencia. Si Barbados sigue adelante con sus planes, se unirá a Trinidad y Tobago, así como a Guyana en romper los lazos con la monarquía.
Barbados To Become A Republic by 2021
In her Throne Speech laid ahead of the second sitting of the 2008-2023 Parliament today, Barbados Governor-General Dame Sandra Mason announced that Barbados will become a republic by the island’s 55th anniversary of independence in November 2021.
Mason said that former Prime Minister of Barbados Errol Barrow had cautioned against “loitering on colonial premises” and that the warning is “as relevant today as it was in 1966.”
“Having attained independence over half a century ago, our country can be in no doubt about its capacity for self-governance. The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind. Barbadians want a Barbadian head of state. This is the ultimate statement of confidence about who we are and what we are capable of achieving,” Mason said in making the announcement.
Barbados has long flirted with the idea of becoming a republic since gaining Independence in 1966.
In 1998, a Barbados constitutional review commission had recommended republican status but it was not carried over after the general election in 2003. Then in 2015, then Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart said his administration would have implemented the recommendation.
With the island now becoming a republic, it means that Queen Elizabeth II will no longer serve as head of state. The island will also remove the UK-based Privy Council as its final court of appeal. The Caribbean Court of Justice will be the nation’s highest court. Barbados will also have a President serving along with a Prime Minister.
The island will now join Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Dominica as the fourth English-speaking CARICOM republic.
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.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who was last week sworn in for a second consecutive term, had committed to putting the issue, along with other major constitutional reform proposals, to citizens in a ‘grand referendum.’
Historic opening of Parliament
The State Opening of Parliament this morning was a subdued version of the pomp and pageantry to which Barbadians have become accustomed on such an occasion, all because of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
There were no cheering party supporters outside the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St Michael, as a result of the COVID-19 protocols that were in place.
However, Governor General Dame Sandra Mason helped to provide the splendour customarily associated with the event, when she alighted from the vehicle resplendent in a gold ensemble, trimmed with black and white and accessorised with a gold pillbox hat, decorated with black accents.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley wore a Pauline Bellamy-designed dress with brocaded overcoat.
They were joined by Members of Parliament, senators, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests in the Senate for the Governor General’s delivery of the Throne Speech at today’s historic event.
LESC, through proclamation by Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, was appointed as the place where the second session of Parliament should commence.
It is the one occasion when both Houses meet together.The LESC’s Frangipani Room was transformed into the Senate Chamber while the Flamboyant Room was reconfigured as the Chamber of the House of Assembly.
Mottley announced last month that Parliament would be prorogued and a new session would start on September 15.
“The Government has determined that it is necessary that we take fresh guard. The Parliament of Barbados will be prorogued on the 8th of August, 2020, with us resuming in a new session on the 15th of September with a new Throne Speech and with a new direction as to where we must go in order to meet these extraordinarily different circumstances from the original Throne Speech of two years ago,” Mottley said.
