Barbados, a small island country in the Caribbean region of North America wants to become a Republic. The current ruling party wants to remove the Queen of England as head of state.

And this time, it probably does not want to have a referendum before the ousting. There has been no announcement of a referendum until now. Would this be a wise step?

Barbados and the removal of Queen Elizabeth II as head of state

Barbados is a small island state in the Caribbean area of North America. Its prime minister, Mia Mottley has proposed that the nation would change to a republic before the end of 2021.

That means they would remove the Queen of England as its state head. There has been no referendum on this issue and neither have they talked about it.

In 2005, Mia was the deputy PM and had planned a referendum on this matter. However, it did not materialize due to the cost factor. And after that, Mia’s Labor Party lost power.

And now she and her party are back. Hence the topic of a Republic is also back. As per the country’s constitution, there is no need for a referendum to oust the Queen as the state head. Only a two-thirds majority in both Parliament Houses should suffice.

The previous referendums on this issue

After Mexico’s referendum in 1863 on this matter, there have been 33 more in the world after that. Some of these were successful.

But some of the successful ones were also dubious. In 1944, voters of Iceland voted for a republic, and in 1946, Italy became a republic.

But a plebiscite held in 1955 in Vietnam had 5.7 million people vote when the population of the country was only 5.3 million at that time.

Where did the remaining 0.4 million votes come from? Later, in South Africa in 1960, similar voting took place but only white South Africans were allowed to vote. Ghana (1960), Rwanda (1961), and Gambia (1971) also could remove the Queen at that time with ‘manufactured’ majorities.

Not successful referendums

But some of these referendums wanted the monarchy to stay. In 1950, 57% of Belgians voted for King Leopold III to return. In 1999, Australia voted for the retention of the Queen and won.

Similar successes to retain the Queen as state head happened in Tuvalu in Oceania in 2008 and St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean in 2009.

People of the world have seen what democracy and politicians have done to their countries. They prefer a soft-spoken royal head to a retired career politician. They prefer conservatism in this manner hence their choice to retain the Queen.

Realizing that the voters might not want to abolish the monarchy, some countries like Trinidad and Tobago (1976) and Fiji (1987) did not have a referendum.

They just had a parliamentary session and voted against the retention of the Queen.

A popular vote was not taken! But in these two countries, no protests or dissatisfaction followed. Hence, it meant that the people were not against the wishes and actions of their government.

A republic might appear a good thing, but it has its share of problems. Having the Queen along with democracy could be an anachronism but might be useful if it is a popular desire.

Also, read Queen Elizabeth II and her love for pearl necklaces!