#BTEditorial – Welcoming the new Republic

The world seems to be taking keen interest in our decision as a nation to cut ties with the British monarchy, in a move that cements our sovereignty as an independent nation.

Given the increasingly high profile of our Prime Minister Mia Mottley at several global events in recent months, the island is expectedly, receiving an enormous amount of international prime-time coverage from media power houses such as CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, and the BBC.

In the British Press, there have been unsubstantiated reports which border on slurs against the island, in which it is argued that the push towards republican status was being fuelled by China. There have also been suggestions of possible inducements from the Asian powerhouse to align the island with China and shift away from traditional Western partners.

The idea has been rubbished by Government. But in an era of conspiracy theories coupled with the quasi-neo-colonial positioning of China in many poor African states in need of development assistance, it is possible to appreciate how such a theory could have found succour.

The Express newspaper in England is closely following our transition and has joined several news outlets that have arrived on the island in recent days to also capture England’s future king Prince Charles who will witness the transition.

“Barbados signed up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a strategy seeking to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and sea networks to stimulate growth and trade, shortly before the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020,” the newspaper reported.

Royal author Robert Hardman was reported as commenting to the Daily Mail: “There is, of course, no such thing as a free lunch. The debts for the country’s new Chinese buses, buildings, roads and hotel complexes must be repaid in some way.”

We as Barbadians appreciate that for hundreds of years Barbados was one of the most important jewels in the British crown, contributing millions of pounds to that country’s development and it came off the backs of our enslaved ancestors.

This country was extremely valuable real estate. It was not just another colony. But after hundreds of years, much water has flowed under the bridge in the relationship between Great Britain and “Little England”.

And so, the symbolism of Barbados seeking to officially cut the ties that bind us to the British monarchy has been taken as a personal affront by some Britons. They see the monarchy’s influence shrinking with every country that determines it wishes to become a republic, and it hurts.

While we repudiate the smear campaign which suggests that we are exchanging the British colonists for the Chinese, we must also not become so naïve to geopolitical manoeuvring that we underestimate the influence that some may seek to exert on us, particularly when we are at our most vulnerable economically.

The Prime Minister, who is seeking to complete the cycle started 55 years ago by former prime minister and National Hero Errol Walton Barrow, has not escaped criticism at home. Some who support the Democratic Labour Party continue to gripe over the choice of November 30 as the new republic day.

They have voiced objection to what they describe as an attempt to diminish the role of Barrow as the “Father of Independence”. Time will tell whether that is so, or a case of heightened sensibilities of an opposition political party seeking to re-establish its credibility among voters, as a general election looms.

Then there are those who laud the decisive steps taken by Government such as University of the West Indies academic and talk-show host Dr Kristina Hinds. At the same time, Hinds is among those highly critical of the administration’s invitation to Prince Charles to attend, and the decision to honour him.

“It’s problematic for those among us who believe that the British monarchy, as important as it has been for Barbados historically in positive ways, has also caused serious harm to the country,” she stated.

As time passes, we believe there will be greater coalescence around the idea of becoming a republic, even though there will be those who will argue that the process of getting us to this point should have involved more active participation by the population.

With citizens already consumed by pandemic fatigue and apathy, the rising cost of living, increasing anxiety about the future, job insecurity and unemployment, it is not surprising that Barbadians are distracted from what should be the singular event of the decade for this island.

But as regional trade specialist and diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders noted, it was time to take ownership of our sovereignty.

“[Caribbean countries] became republics because, even though the queen’s role was only symbolic, exercising no real executive authority, it was simply not acceptable that a foreign person, residing thousands of miles away with no daily experience of life in a country, could credibly be its head of state.”