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Gonsalves mentioned he was unwilling to push the referendum ahead with out assist from either side:
However Gonsalves advised Parliament that he would solely pursue the referendum if there may be bipartisan assist. “I’ll let you know this. I’m ready, if the opposition agrees at present, earlier than the top of the 12 months or early subsequent 12 months to place one query in a referendum: to have a home-grown president within the method by which I’ve simply described, a non-executive president, and as was specified by the proposed structure, and allow us to go along with that one single concern to the folks to finish the nationwide democratic process,” Gonsalves mentioned.
In 2009, Vincentians overwhelmingly rejected the proposed revised structure with 29,019 “no” votes and 22,493 “sure” votes. “I agree that we are actually 12 years away from the referendum,” mentioned Gonsalves, who had beforehand mentioned that he would depart the query of constitutional reform to future leaders.
There are inevitably individuals who don’t “get it” about why Caribbean nations are opting to take away the queen, arguing that she is barely a “symbolic” figurehead and that Nice Britain doesn’t “rule” unbiased members of the Commonwealth as they do British Abroad Territories, just like the British Virgin Islands, that are chafing beneath latest British strikes.
I’d prefer to counsel that you simply take heed to this 24-minute dialogue of decolonization hosted by journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin within the following episode of Al Jazeera’s The Stream, launched again in Might of this 12 months. His company for the dialogue of “Why are some Caribbean nations ditching the Queen?” had been Dr. Rosalea Hamilton, commerce coverage specialist and founding director of the Institute of Regulation and Economics (ILE); Lawyer activist Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, creator of That is Why I Resist: Do not Outline My Black Id; and Dr. Kristina Hinds, senior lecturer on the College of the West Indies and member of the Barbados Senate.
They elevate the query of each apologies and reparations, together with the CARICOM Ten-Level Plan for Reparatory Justice, and the truth that Nice Britain was nonetheless paying reparations to descendants of slaveowners up till 2015.
In latest months, extra former British colonies within the Caribbean have declared their intent to abolish the monarchy and take away Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. These nations embrace Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica and St. Kitts and Nevis. Final November, Barbados lower ties with the British monarchy and have become the world’s latest republic.
The pattern in the direction of republicanism is not new. Dominica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago all grew to become republics within the Nineteen Seventies. However the unfold of the Black Lives Matter motion, together with an elevated curiosity in reckoning with the colonial previous, has influenced Caribbean politicians.
Royal excursions geared toward strengthening ties between the Queen and former British colonies have appeared to do the precise reverse. Visits by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Earl and Countess of Wessex prompted protesters to resume requires slavery reparations and a extra significant apology for abuses in the course of the British empire.
Given the present struggles in opposition to entrenched racism in Nice Britain, it ought to come as no shock that its former Caribbean colonies are pushing again. I ponder which nation will likely be subsequent?
Be a part of me within the feedback part under for extra, and for the weekly Caribbean information roundup.
Associated tales:
Barbados to turn into a republic and take away Queen Elizabeth II as head of state
Caribbean Issues: The royals’ disastrous Caribbean tour leaves requires reparations behind them
Caribbean Issues: Congratulations to Barbados, a republic after almost 400 years
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