Caribbean Review: Vote To End Monarchal Influence In Antigua And Barbuda May Come Later Than Pledged
In 2022, Prime Minister Gaston Browne pledged that Antigua and Barbuda would hold a referendum within three years on transitioning from a constitutional monarchy to a republic, following Barbados’ successful transition. Three years later, there have been no updates regarding this transition. Raising the question as to how long Britain will hold symbolic power through local representatives in Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda gained independence from the United Kingdom on November 1, 1981, becoming a constitutional monarchy. It remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the British Monarch is the Head of State, represented by a Governor-General in the nation.
"It does not represent any form of disrespect to the monarch. This is not an act of hostility, or any difference between Antigua and Barbuda and the monarchy,” said Prime Minister Browne in a 2022 interview, "It is a final step to complete the circle of independence to become a truly sovereign nation.” The portrait of the Queen on currency was the closest the Queen has been to the people of Antigua and Barbuda since her last visit in 1985. Still, many residents interviewed by after her death said they felt close to her and the British Monarchy. Three days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Browne announced the referendum. “Although we are independent, we are on our own, but we still look up to her,” said Anna Crick, an Antiguian resident in an ITV News interview. “She’s done a great job, so I just hope he can take up her mantle and do even more than she was doing,” said Louise Sabin, another Antiguian resident.
Antigua and Barbuda is one of many Caribbean nations to retain the British Monarch as the head of state. Reporter Ryan Merrifield wrote in a 2022 article, “Despite the growing republican push across the region, Mr. Browne - who is up for re-election next year - said he was not responding to a widespread push for Antiguans to hold a vote.” Browne said to ITV News, “I think most people haven’t even bothered to think about it.”
Earlier in 2022, Browne had begun pushing for Antigua and Barbuda to become a republic. He then called for a meeting with the Royal Couple in April 2022. "Our civilization should understand the atrocities that took place during colonialism and slavery and the fact that we have to bring balance by having open discussions,” said Browne during the meeting. "You can even use your, let's say, diplomatic influence to build bridges in achieving the reparatory justice that we seek here in the Caribbean.” The meeting occurred after the royal couple were met by protests during their visit to St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2022, where banners displayed "compensation now" and "Britain, your debt is outstanding," according to an article. Antigua and Barbuda were colonized by Britain in the 17th century.
Calls for separation from British monarchical rule have been loud in the West Indies. According to a 2022 article, it was reported, “Activists and experts tell TIME that more and more Caribbeans in former British colonies are perceiving the royal family as an outdated institution whose symbolic role in the islands is seen as inappropriate.” Activists and academics have argued that the move to republicanism is the first step in the process of recovering reparations for the human rights abuses and plundering of countries under colonialism, through cutting all diplomatic ties these nations have to their former colonizer. “We are very mindful of the fact that our forebears were not compensated while our enslavers were,” said Rosalea Hamilton, a Jamaican trade expert and organizer of the Advocates Network, a group of Jamaican academics, politicians, and cultural figures calling for reparations. The change from a constitutional monarchy to a republic in former colonies holds a lot of symbolic value to those seeking reparations and a closure to their colonial past. “The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind,” said then-Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, who is now President of Barbados since its transition in September 2020. Jamaica also remains a constitutional monarchy; however, the Jamaican government plans to hold a referendum at a general election on September 3, 2025.
In an April 2022 article titled, Why British royals face simmering resentment in Caribbean by Gemma Handy, Historian Ivor Ford reflected on the difference in how the royals are viewed in Antigua and Barbuda over the years. "I think most Antiguans would want to replace the Queen now," said Ford. "Young people can't relate to the Royal Family; they don't understand their purpose. Even older people like me, I would love to see us become a republic. The head of state should be someone who is elected,". This trend of younger generations feeling more and more distant from the monarchy has been a crucial drive for the movement for republicanism.
The push for reparations continues to be strong in the region, and it is possible that Prime Minister Browne revisits his pledge to hold a referendum to make Antigua and Barbuda a republic, disconnected from British loyalty. Though there have been no updates from Antigua and Barbuda’s government, Jamaica’s general election vote could influence Antigua and Barbuda to revisit the topic.
