The passing of the Queen, a unifying figure more beloved than her son, King Charles III, comes as several Commonwealth realms are reassessing their…
After the queen’s death last week, Prime Minister Gaston Browne revealed a timeline: He plans to hold a referendum on casting off the monarchy “probably” within the next three years.Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails.
The remaining realms include Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica. Even before Elizabeth’s death, the debate was raging, particularly in the Caribbean, where a confluence of factors, including the Black Lives Matter movement and recent scandal over Britain’s mistreatment of migrants from the British West Indies after World War II, cast a harsh spotlight on the sins of empire.
“Within our region, there is a definite push toward bringing home the head of state,” Henry Usher, Belize’s minister of constitutional and political reform, told The Washington Post. “I think it’s important that we can’t be having a head of state that’s living thousands of miles away and is not in tune with what’s happening locally… The rallying cry in the Caribbean is that the people are sovereign.
Speaking on Christmas Day from Auckland, New Zealand, she said the Commonwealth was not at all like “the Empires of the past.” But severing ties with the monarchy can be easier said than done. Nearly every constitutional reform commission in the Caribbean since independence has recommended declaring republics, and leaders in several nations have pledged to do so – but have faced obstacles.
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