Barbados PM seeks to remove Queen, turn nation to republic
Barbados is planning to remove Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state, over 400 years after it was colonized by Britain, and become a republic.
During a meeting of the Democratic Labor Party late on Sunday, Prime Minister Freundel Jerome Stuart officially stated his plans for the country to become a republic by the end of November 2016, the 50th anniversary of the country's independence.
“It’s a little awkward in the year 2015 to still have to stand up and instead of pledging allegiance to Barbados to be pledging allegiance to 'her majesty the queen,’” Stuart said, adding that his administration does not expect any opposition to the move.
Meanwhile, George Pilgrim, general secretary of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), said the parliament would vote on a draft bill suggesting the Queen’s removal in the near future. “This will move the country through to the next major step in the process of nationhood.”
A Barbadian historian, Trevor Marshall, welcomed Stuart's announcement, arguing there is “nothing to be gained by remaining as a dominion.”
To authorize the constitutional change, a two-thirds majority is needed in the parliament.
There has long been a republican dispute in Barbados between elder islanders who think of the queen as a symbol of stability, and mostly youngsters who call her an anachronism.
The Carribean Island of roughly 300,000 people, which was colonized by the British in 1605, became independent in 1966, but remained a constitutional monarchy.
MIS/NT
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