BARBADOS DECLARED NEWEST REPUBLIC OF WORLD
Barbados has ditched the Queen Elizabeth of Britain as the Head of the State. The Caribbean country formed a Republic with it’s first-ever President Sandra Mason and severed its last-remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 later after the first British ships arrived at the Caribbean Island.
Barbados becomes a Republic: What it means?
As Barbados becomes a new Republic, it means that the small island nation has transitioned from a parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the hereditary monarch of Barbados to the Parliamentary Republic with the President elected as the Head of the State. As Barbados was declared Republic after 400 years under the British rule, the move has casted the removal of Queen Elizabeth II as a way to finally break from the demons of Colonial History. However, she is still a queen of 15 other realms including Australia, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, and Canada. The birth of the Republic of Barbados, 55 years to the day since the Caribbean country was declared independent, has broken up almost all the colonial bonds that kept the tiny island tied to England since the British Ship claimed it for King James I in 1625. The declaration of Barbados as Republic can also be a harbinger of a broader attempt by the other former colonies to cut the ties to the British Monarchy as the country braces for the end of Queen Elizabeth’s nearly 70-year reign and the future accession of Prince Charles.
1ST EVER PRESIDENT OF BARBADOS
Sandra Mason was elected as the first-ever President of Barbados on October 20, 2021, with a two-thirds vote during a joint session of the country's House of Assembly and Senate. The 72-year-old Mason will replace Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as head of state of Barbados, in a decisive step towards abolishing the monarchy and bringing the nation out of its colonial past. Mason will be formally sworn in as President on November 30, 2021, on the occasion of the nation's 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.
WHO IS SANDRA MASON?
Sandra Mason has been serving as the eighth governor-general of Barbados since 2018. She is a former jurist and first-ever woman to serve on the Barbados Court of Appeals. She has formerly also served as a High Court judge in Saint Lucia. She was the first woman to be admitted to the Bar in Barbados. She was also the first magistrate appointed as an Ambassador from Barbados. She has been referred to as one of the 10 most powerful women in Barbados.
BARBADOS POLITICAL HISTORY
Barbados is a small island country that is located in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, in the Caribbean region of the Americas. It is located towards the east of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Initially, in the late 15th century, the Spanish had briefly claimed Barbados but it became an English and later British colony from 1625. Barbados gained its independence from the British on November 30, 1966. Barbados has since then maintained its historical linkages with Britain by becoming a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The nation became a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch. It is a member of the United Nations. The nation is now planning to abolish its constitutional monarchy and become a republic. Britishers had initially used the white British indentured servants to toil on the plantations of cotton, indigo, tobacco, and sugar, however, Barbados in just a few decades became England’s first truly profitable slave society. The small island received 6,00,000 enslaved Africans between 1627 and 1833, who were then out to work in sugar plantations in Barbados, which helped in earning fortunes for the English owners. More than 10 million Africans were shackled into the Atlantic Slave Trade by the European Nations between the 15th and 19th Centuries.
ABOUT BARBADOS
- Location: It is a small island country in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea.
- Neighbours: Its neighbours include Saint Lucia, to the north, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to the west, and Trinidad and Tobago to the south.
- Capital: Bridgetown
- Independence: On November 30, 1966, Barbados gained its independence.
- Leadership: Dame Sandra Prunella Mason is the current President of Barbados. Mia Amor Mottley is the current Prime Minister of Barbados.
- Part of CARICOM: Barbados is part of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which was formed in 1973.
INDIA & BARBADOS RELATIONSHIP
- Shared Platforms: India and Barbados enjoy close and cordial relations and interact actively in the United Nations (UN), Commonwealth and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and other international fora. Barbados is also a signatory to the International Solar Alliance and has ratified it in January, 2021.
- Air Services Agreement: India and Barbados have signed the Air Services Agreement in 2015, for facilitation of travel arrangements for the citizens and the possibility of direct air connectivity and chartered flight operations between the two countries. The first ever Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between India and Barbados were held in Bridgetown, Barbados in 2015.
- UNSC Reform: Barbados supported the G-4 resolution on expanding the UN Security Council in 2007. The country also voted for India's candidature for Non-Permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2011–12, and supports India's candidature for a permanent seat on the Security Council.
- Bilateral Trade: Export (USD 12.76 million 2019-20): Indian exports include vehicles, pharmaceuticals, textiles, iron & steel, organic chemicals, etc. Import (USD 1.48 million 2019-20): Indian imports include electrical machinery, optical photography, cinematographic equipment.
- Sports and Culture: Cricket being a great connection in India, Barbadian cricketers of yore and modern times are household names among Indian sport lovers. Many Barbadian cricketers are members of Indian Premier League teams.
- Indian Community: Approximately 2500 people of Indian origin have settled in Barbados and most of them have since acquired local nationality.
COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
It is an international intergovernmental organization of countries that were mostly former territories of the British Empire and dependencies. It was established by the London Declaration in 1949. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth. The current membership includes 54 Countries. The membership is based on free and equal voluntary co -operation. It is home to 2.5 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. The last country to join the Commonwealth was Rwanda in 2009. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations.
