GG GETS THE NOD

Government has nominated Governor General Dame Sandra Mason to become this country’ first president.

That was revealed by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley yesterday during an hour-long nationally televised address, in which the country’s leader also pushed back about there being a rush to make Barbados a republic.

Mottley revealed that her administration had reached out to Dame Sandra two months ago to inform the former High Court judge that she was their choice to be the first Barbadian head of state in the country’s history and that she had accepted the nomination.

Consented

“Her Excellency has consented to my Government nominating her at the appropriate time to be the first president of this nation. We feel that this is the way we want to go and we want to thank her for so graciously consenting in this matter,” the Prime Minister said.

Dame Sandra’s nomination will be subject to a vote by the 30 members of Parliament in the Lower House and the 21 senators in the Upper House.

“I have every confidence that just as we are pleased with her performance that those who sit in those Houses, Independent senators or Opposition, will equally be pleased. I trust and pray the people of Barbados, through its Parliament, will speak with one voice before the 30th of November, such that on the 30th we will swear in the first President of this nation and complete the exercise so ably started by Mr [first Prime Minister, Errol Walton] Barrow in 1966,” Mottley said.

The leader of Government also defended the pathway her administration was taking in the transition to becoming a republic, making it clear that no changes would be made to Independence Day on November 30. In addition, she said there would be no changes to the country’s name, its National Pledge or Flag.

A slight change will be made, however, to the line of the country’s National Anthem which speaks to “past 300 years”.

Mottley also rubbished the perception that her administration was trying to affect Barrow’s legacy as the Father of Independence via the island’s transition to a republic.

“Let us be clear. Errol Barrow is

Continued on Page 5A.

Governor General Dame Sandra Mason has been nominated by the Government to be the first

President of the republic of Barbados on November 30. (FP)

From Page 1A.

the Father of Independence, just as Sir Grantley Adams is the Father of Democracy. Without the vote we couldn’t have Independence, and I see both of them as integral to the foundation of this nation, a modern Barbados that we love, and want to build in these challenging times,” the Barbados Labour Party leader said.

She said Government was not rushing to do anything and fully expected consultation of a new Constitution only to begin in 2022.

“We feel that if we’re going to have a new Constitution eventually that is going to reflect who we are in the third generation of the 21st century that that should be guided by the kind of people we want to be, in a charter, a set of pledges and promises as Bajans, to each other.

That project, she said, would be overseen by the Republic Transition Advisory Committee and should be completed before Independence Day this year.

“Then on Independence Day there will be the opportunity for the President of the country to be able to recite that charter, as the embodiment of the aspirations of the Barbadian people.” (BA)