Atherley still disagrees with timing of republic move

Despite jointly proposing current Governor General Dame Sandra Mason as Barbados’ first President, Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley has maintained objection to the process and timing of the country moving to a Parliamentary republic.

But Prime Minister Mia Mottley, with whom Bishop Atherley had jointly recommended Dame Sandra, insisted there could be no “wrong” timing for a 55-year-old independent nation to take this step.

Speaking after Dame Sandra secured the support of all members of the House of Assembly and all but one Senator who attended today’s joint sitting of Parliament, Bishop Atherley reiterated the Opposition’s concerns.

“We believe the process is wrong and that both a public education programme and the formulation of the new Republic Constitution should precede the country assuming Republic status,” he said.

“We believe the timing is wrong. Not the time or period of history, but this moment, and the circumstances which preclude a fulsome celebration and nationally expressed embrace of this step. The country is both distracted and depressed at this time.

“The alternative view as to the constitutional and legal appropriateness of our approach to the change in our nation’s status ought to be better addressed and put to rest,” the Opposition Leader added.

However, defending the move, Prime Minister Mottley repeated Government’s position that the decision was not taken lightly.

“We have reached this moment on the eve of our 55th year of Independence and we all know in our own lives, that to reach 55, if you are not comfortable with yourself, if you are not comfortable in yourself, then something is fundamentally wrong. And this government, like those who went before and who expressed confidence in the journey even if not completing the process, we believe that the time has come for us to claim our full destiny and to recognize in reality what has been the position,” she said. “There can be no issue of the timing being bad at 55 years old.”

The Prime Minister added that if ever there was a time that this nation needs to move in confidence, it is now.

Pointing to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and the economic decimation it has caused to tourism and travel-dependent nations like Barbados, Mottley said:

“It is the judgment of this government that this country must rise together and must have the confidence to fight together to be able to build forward better, because the combination of the pandemic with what is now commonly regarded as the existential crisis – that of the climate crisis – stands, in conjunction with the reality of the report of our National Population Commission that our labour force shall be smaller in 13 years than it is now, to create a confluence of events that if left untouched, will do much to undermine the stability of our nation and, ultimately, the stability and prosperity of our people.”

Prime Minister Mottley said the confidence that is needed to be able to overcome the challenges comes from loving what we see.

“There can be no better way to reflect the love of self than to accept that one of your very own, born of this nation, shaped by this nation, adding to this nation, bringing honour to this nation, that that person should be elected here today,” she added. (DP)