Antigua and Barbuda weighs its break with the British monarchy

Republican movements may gain strength in some british territories of the world, but in the small Caribbean paradise of Old and bearded, the 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 the 14 states of the Commonwealth of Nationsnow under the aegis of king charles iiiin openly raising the idea of ​​replacing the British monarch as head of state.

To do so would not be “an act of hostility” but “the final step to complete independencesaid the Antiguan Prime Minister, Gaston Brownto the British broadcaster ITV News, noting that he hopes to hold a referendum on the subject 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 Friday.

If Browne wins the next general election, which is due to be held before 2023, the years leading up to the eventual referendum would be spent “selling the idea” to the people of Antigua and Barbuda. On Saint John’s busy Market Street, most residents agree that it would take convincing. “I think we should keep the crown. This country cannot fend for itself,” Leonie Barker, 53, told France Presse after shopping for groceries before Tropical Storm Fiona swept through 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 wondered. Fashion designer and singer Kelly Richardson he also said the islanders needed more information, adding that he didn’t think it was “a bad idea.”

Four decades of independence

The long-awaited Browne referendum would come almost 400 years after the British colonized Antigua for the first time in 1632followed by neighboring Barbuda in 1678.

The settlers began grow sugar on the islands, but since indigenous Caribbean people were dying by the thousands throughout the region, they imported african slaves to tend profitable crops. The emancipation it finally arrived in 1833, and many of Antigua and Barbuda’s 97,000 people 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 only half-independence, argues Hurst, the government spokesman. “The monarchy is in England, let’s not fool ourselves,” said France Presse. “It is a little less than independence when the head of state is determined by an institution that is some 10,000 kilometers away.”

However, any control the UK exercises is mainly procedural, he said, and breaking with that is “symbolic”. “It will largely have a psychological impact on the population of Antigua and Barbuda, that is its main purpose,” she added.

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It is also in question whether the young people are affected by the wounds of the past. The biggest concern of Generation Z it is the development of the nation, 19-year-old student Kemani Sinclair told France Presse, pointing to the colorful buildings around downtown Saint John, some of which have fallen into disrepair. The process of holding a referendum on removing the British monarchy 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.