A senior political scientist believes that the current outcry over Government-proposed changes to Independence Day is rooted in sentimentality and partisanship. Furthermore, the University of the West Indies (UWI) academic says Independence Day cannot be written in stone and that changes are inevitable in an era of “political development”.
While Senior Lecturer in Political Science and former Head of the Department of Government, Sociology, Social Work and Psychology at UWI’s Cave Hill Campus Dr Tennyson Joseph maintained Independence Day cannot remain indefinitely, two other political scientists Dr Kristina Hinds and Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles reject any attempts to fiddle with the important historical designation.
Hours before Government on Thursday announced post-Cabinet that the status quo would remain, Dr Joseph argued that in the same way the independence of various Caribbean states replaced the Federation as the supreme form of sovereignty, republicanism must now do the same with independence as an unfolding political development.
“It is perhaps correct that there was an error due to a lack of consultation, and I accept that. In other words, knowing that it is a difficult political decision, given the partisan question that we all know exists, perhaps it was approached wrong politically. But essentially what I am saying to you, I don’t buy the argument that a day called Independence Day is fixed in stone forever and ever Amen,” the senior political scientist contended.
“There will be future political and constitutional developments in Barbados. We don’t know what they are standing here in 2022, but there will eventually transcend. We used to commemorate something called Columbus Arrival Day; we used to celebrate something called the Queen’s Birthday, and at each stage of our constitutional development, we transcended those. A lot of the discussion surrounds a partisan question about Errol Barrow’s legacy and Mia Mottley trying to negate Errol Barrow legacy,” Dr Joseph said. He also noted that he is not dismissing the issue of emotional attachments, but just seeking to put a different perspective on the issue.
However, his department colleague Dr Hinds, a Senior Political Scientist and Head of the Department, is not in favour of Independence Day being replaced.
“I disagree with it. I reject that altogether. Independence is something that is quite historic and independence can’t encompass and shouldn’t encompass Barbados becoming a republic as part of the independence process. I think the name change is quite unnecessary and it speaks to a problem that I don’t think exists,” Dr Hinds argued.
She is supported by another senior political scientist and former Head of that department Professor Barrow-Giles who asserted: “Nothing can be as important as independence.
“Nothing that we could do in the Caribbean, given where we have come from, can be as important as independence. When you say therefore that November 30 would no longer be celebrated as Independence Day, to my mind what you are doing, is you are devaluing our independence and the significance of independence,” Professor Barrow-Giles contended.
She also said she was surprised at the decision to change the name, pointing out that independence holds such value because of the struggles and the colonial conditions from which Barbados came.
The comments have come amidst an ongoing nationwide debate which followed a surprise announcement by Government that Independence Day was to be replaced this year by Barbados National Day. Within 48 hours of the announcement by Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams, the same Cabinet minister returned to the public after a Cabinet meeting to announce that the decision had been rescinded.
Examining the issue from a legal perspective, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UWI, Cave Hill Campus Professor Eddy Ventose pointed out that while Barbados’ Public Holidays Act recognises Independence Day as a holiday, the legislation does not prohibit the name of the day being changed.
“It is a fact that 30th November is Independence Day in Barbados and is a holiday by virtue of section 3(1) of the Public Holidays Act. The Act does not determine the name of the “day” – it simply recognizes that fact,” the law professor told Barbados TODAY.
“For example, in the First Schedule “The 25th December” is one of the days that shall be a public holiday in Barbados in each year. It does not mention “Christmas Day” at all. Clearly, the Act only recognizes particular days as public holidays in Barbados,” the senior law lecturer explained.
Professor Ventose asserted that consultation with the people of Barbados is necessary before the name “Independence Day” can be changed given the historical struggle for independence.
“The Public Holidays Act is irrelevant to the issue. The issue is simply a moral imperative of dialogue with the people of Barbados. We cannot find refuge in Law or the Constitution for matters that are self-evident and not legal,” the Law Faculty Dean submitted.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
