Submission 25

BARBADOS: THE QUEEN, OUR PRESIDENT AND OUR CONSTITUTION

A Bajan should be the head of our nation, despite the Queen being Barbados’ “Head of State” since her ascendancy to the Throne in 1952 with Barbados as part of the British Empire.

At Independence in 1966, Queen Elizabeth’s position as Head of State, continued seamlessly because Barbados remained one of her realms, but, in fact, while she was a titular Head of State, real power and authority was vested in the Prime Minister.

The Queen’s ceremonial role in Barbados, was performed by a Governor-General, nominated by the government of Barbados, until the decision was made, without a referendum, that Barbados should become a Republic with a non-Executive President. The non-Executive President, Dame Sandra Mason, who, rather incongruously, retains the title of “Dame” bestowed upon her by Elizabeth II, as Queen of Barbados, also performs a ceremonial role.

Surely, if the powers that be were determined to cut all links to the former British Empire, including the Crown, they should also have insisted that our own freshly minted Head of State should ditch the title from what is now a foreign Sovereign. Be that, as it may, in reality, we exchanged one titular Head of State for another.