AMN
Barbados has elected its first ever president as it prepares to become a republic, removing Queen Elizabeth as head of state.
Dame Sandra Mason, 72, is set to be sworn in on 30 November, which will mark the country’s 55th anniversary of independence from Britain. The first woman to serve on the Barbados Court of Appeals, Dame Sandra has been governor-general since 2018.
The government announced the plan to move to a republic status last year. It said the time had come for Barbados to fully leave the colonial past behind. The change had already been recommended by a constitutional review in 1998.
With a population of about 285,000, Barbados is one of the more populous and prosperous Caribbean islands. Once heavily dependent on sugar exports, its economy has diversified into tourism and finance.
Barbados will not be the first former British colony in the Caribbean to become a republic. Guyana took that step in 1970, less than four years after gaining independence from Britain. Trinidad and Tobago followed suit in 1976 and Dominica in 1978.