Republican movements may gain strength in some British territories around the world, but in the little Caribbean paradise of Antigua and Barbudathe residents have mixed feelings about the final severing of the link with their former settlers.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Antigua and Barbuda became the first of 14 Commonwealth states, now under the aegis of King Charles III, in openly raising the idea of replacing the British monarch as head of state.
Do it it would not be “an act of hostility” but “the final step to complete independence”Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne told British broadcaster ITV News, noting that he hopes to hold a referendum on the issue in the next three years.
Whether the population wants to take that step is an open question, Browne’s chief of staff, Lionel Hurst, admitted during an interview at the prime minister’s office, overlooking the port capital Saint John, on the country’s main island, Antigua. .
“We’re not sure yet” he said on Friday.
The elections, key
If Browne wins the next general election, which must be held before 2023, the years leading up to an eventual referendum would be spent on “selling the idea” to the people of Antigua and Barbuda.
On Saint John’s busy Market Street, most residents agreed What would it take to convince people?
“I think we should keep the Crown. This country cannot manage alone”Leonie Barker, 53, told AFP after shopping for groceries before Tropical Storm Fiona passed over the island on Friday night.
Others said it was too early to take sides.
For Peter Thomas, 58, it takes education and a commitment to the idea. “I think we’ve reached a stage in life (where) We’d like to be alone, but are we ready?he asked himself.
Fashion designer and singer Kelly Richardson also said islanders needed more information, adding that he didn’t think it was “a bad idea”.
“I am open to changes,” he told AFP.
For others, there is potential for both sides.
The doubts
Antigua and Barbuda has come a long way since its independence in 1981, argued local cameraman JC Cornelius, so if it’s about getting rid of a monarch as head of state, “why not?” But “unity and love are really the keyThen also “why not?” continue with the king, he added, noting that the matter requires “diligent” consideration.
The long-awaited Browne referendum would take place almost 400 years after the British colonized Antigua for the first time in 1632, followed by neighboring Barbuda in 1678.
Colonists began to grow sugar on the islands, but with indigenous Caribbean people dying by the thousands throughout the region, they imported African slaves to tend the profitable crops.
Emancipation finally came in 1833and many of the 97,000 people in Antigua and Barbuda today are descendants of slaves.
The country, whose economy now relies heavily on tourism, has been an independent nation for more than four decades, but it is a half independenceargues Hurst, the government spokesman.
“The monarchy is in England, make no mistake,” he told AFP. “It is a little less than independence when the head of state is determined by an institution that It is about 10,000 kilometers away.
However, any control the UK exercises is primarily procedural, he said, and to break with that is “symbolic”.
“It will largely have a psychological impact on the population of Antigua and Barbuda, that is its main purpose,” he said.
But it is also in doubt whether the young people are affected by the wounds of the past.
The biggest concern of Generation Z is the development of the nation19-year-old student Kemani Sinclair told AFP, pointing to the colorful buildings around downtown Saint John, some of which have fallen into disrepair.
The process of holding a referendum on the removal of the British monarchy it would be an expensive waste of money that could be spent elsewhere, he argued.
“I really think Antigua and Barbuda shouldn’t become a republic. It’s just not ready,” Sinclair said.
AFP agency
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