UWI panellists say A&B’s transition to republican status needs to be bipartisan

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Vice Chairman of the Caricom Reparations Commission, Dorbrene O’Marde (File photo). Jamaican Member of Parliament and member of the Jamaican Constitutional Reform Committee Ambassador Anthony Hylton (Photo courtesy Jamaica Gleaner). Head of the Department of Government, Sociology, Social Work and Psychology at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, and Barbados Independent Senator, Dr Kristina Hinds (Photo via Caribbean Studies Association website)
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By Robert A. Emmanuel

[email protected]

The future of the British monarchy in Antigua and Barbuda’s political sphere continues to be debated by political thinkers and the public alike with opinions on a transition to republicanism continuously being raised.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Five Islands Campus held its monthly public advocacy series Monday night on the ‘The Case for Republicanism’.

While changes to the current political system have been largely supported by the leaders of both political parties, it remains to be seen whether partisan politics would sink any proposals, as seen with the 2018 referendum on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Vice Chairman of the Caricom Reparations Commission, Dorbrene O’Marde, told attendees that both parties needed to work together on this move.

“The reality is that in these tribal political societies that we live in … that the movement to republicanism, especially in countries like ours where there are entrenched clauses that require at least two-thirds majority … it is going to be difficult to achieve under normal circumstances.

“But I think our government must take responsibility of making this happen [with] mature political leadership … and the inclusion of opposition voices … it is not enough for the government to say [it is] committed to a referendum and we are going to do it,” he said.

O’Marde argued that the political leadership should not take a move to republicanism as an opportunity for “political aggrandisement”.

“It is not going to be straightforward…and we are dealing with concepts that will not show immediate material benefit and as we know in this modern society, things that do not show that immediate benefit may not attract support,” O’Marde reasoned.

Jamaican Parliamentarian Anthony Hylton, who also spoke at the forum, said the public should also have a say in this process, not just the political elites.

“It is not simply an exercise for the political party; the people have to be engaged and have an important say in shaping the contents of the Constitution.

“It is not going to be a voice of unity; there are going to be different interest groups spearheading different issues,” Hylton noted.

He noted that there needed to be a continuous education process of the public about the move to a republic.

Last month, the Cabinet noted its interest in setting up a constitutional reform committee to examine potential changes to the Constitution.

However, the change to republic status should not be the end of the conversation, Barbadian Independent Senator Dr Kristina Hinds explained, while arguing that it should be through open discussions on wider political reformation, including electoral reform, the division of power and accountability laws.

Dr Hinds referenced her own nation, Barbados, which made the transition to a republic on the premise that further political discussion would be had on the reformation of the Constitution.

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