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Agence France-Presse

Barbados has elected its first president, a key step in preparations to become a republic and remove Britain’s Queen ElizabethI as head of state of the Caribbean island.
Sandra Mason, the current governor-general, is set to be sworn in as president on November 30, the country’s 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.
Calling the parliamentary vote a “historic milestone on the road to the republic”, the Barbadian government tweeted that its House and Senate had elected Mason, 72, on Wednesday.
In September 2020, Mason announced the break with Britain, saying “the time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind”.

“Having attained Independence over half a century ago, our country can be in no doubt about its capacity for self-governance,” she said.
When asked about the plans last year, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said it was “a matter for the government and people of Barbados”.
Barbados which has a population of just under 300,000 – was claimed by the British in 1625.
It has sometimes been called “Little England” for its loyalty to British customs.
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It is relatively prosperous, and a popular tourist destination: before the Covid-19 pandemic, more than a million tourists visited its idyllic beaches and crystalline waters each year.
The Caribbean’s easternmost island is also well-known as the birthplace of superstar singer Rihanna, who is a Barbadian ambassador tasked with promoting education, tourism and investment.


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Royalty

Barbados elects Sandra Mason as its first president, to replace Britain’s Queen Elizabeth

Sandra Mason, governor-general of Barbados, was given the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George medal at Buckingham Palace in London in March 2018. Photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 11, 2021 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles as she attends an event in celebration of ‘The Big Lunch’ initiative at The Eden Project, near St Austell in south west England on June 11, 2021. - Queen Elizabeth II has cancelled a planned trip to Northern Ireland on medical grounds, Buckingham Palace said on October 20, 2021. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / POOL / AFP)

The empire writes back: tackling Britain’s colonial past

A statue of Robert Clive, better known as ‘Clive of India’, in London. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - The statue of former British prime minister Winston Churchill is seen defaced, with the words (Churchill) "was a racist" written on it's base in Parliament Square, central London after a demonstration outside the US Embassy, on June 7, 2020, organised to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis. - Taking a knee, banging drums and ignoring social distancing measures, outraged protesters from Sydney to London on Saturday kicked off a weekend of global rallies against racism and police brutality. (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES / AFP)

FILED - 07 June 2020, England, Bristol: Protesters throw statue of Edward Colston into the Bristol harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest rally, in memory of George Floyd who was killed on May 25 while in police custody in the US city of Minneapolis. Photo: Ben Birchall/PA Wire/dpa

British author Sathnam Sanghera poses for a photograph in Hampstead, north London on January 25, 2021. - The statue of Robert Clive outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in central London depicts him with an imperious gaze, his hand gripping the hilt of a sheathed sword. But despite often heated debate about monuments to colonial figures with links to the slave trade and the legacy of Britain's past, "Clive of India" remains in place. For the British author Sathnam Sanghera, just seeing the monument to the controversial 18th century general who profited massively from the exploitation of India and Indians is "degrading". (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN / AFP)

UK’s Queen Elizabeth cancels trip after doctors tell her to rest

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) greet guests during a reception to mark the Global Investment Summit at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

19 October 2021, United Kingdom, Windsor: Queen Elizabeth II welcomes American business magnate Bill Gates at a reception for international business leaders and investors at Windsor Castle to mark the Global Investment Summit. Photo: Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA Wire/dpa

Toppling of UK slave trader’s statue woke many to nation’s dark history

The pedestal of the toppled statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, England. Photo: AP

A demonstrator reacts infront of graffiti on a statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square during a Black Lives Matter protest in London, following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis, London, Britain, June 7, 2020. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on June 07, 2020 shows This still image taken from a June 7, 2020, video courtesy of William Want (@willwantwrites) via Twitter, shows protesters pulling down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, south west England, during a demonstration organised to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis. This still image taken from a June 7, 2020, video courtesy of William Want (@willwantwrites) via Twitter, shows protesters pulling down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, south west England, during a demonstration organised to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis. This still image taken from a June 7, 2020,

ATTENTION EDITORS - 13 OF 54 PICTURES TO MATCH PICTURE PACKAGE "U.S. TROOPS - IRAQ WITHDRAWAL". SEARCH IRAQ-WITHDRAWAL TO SEE ALL IMAGES PXP600-653 U.S. Marine Corp Assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad in this April 9, 2003 file photo. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/Files (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY)

Protesters in Bristol pulled down and tipped into the harbour the bronze statue of Edward Colston. Photo: DPA

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Mason will be sworn in on November 30, in a key step for the Caribbean island to become a republic and remove the UK monarch as its head of state
The date also marks the country’s 55th anniversary of independence from Britain



Sandra Mason will be sworn in on November 30, in a key step for the Caribbean island to become a republic and remove the UK monarch as its head of state.


Americas and the Caribbean

Britain

Queen Elizabeth II

Barbados elects Sandra Mason as its first president, to replace Britain’s Queen Elizabeth

Mason will be sworn in on November 30, in a key step for the Caribbean island to become a republic and remove the UK monarch as its head of state The date also marks the country’s 55th anniversary of independence from Britain

Mason will be sworn in on November 30, in a key step for the Caribbean island to become a republic and remove the UK monarch as its head of state

The date also marks the country’s 55th anniversary of independence from Britain