He said a referendum could take place within three years. Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced plans for a referendum on whether the Caribbean island country should keep King Charles as head of state. Which countries are discussing removing King Charles as head of state? Antigua and Barbuda The amendment would require the approval of all provincial legislatures, plus Parliament. Each country has a slightly different process to getting there, whether it’s a supermajority in legislature, a general referendum or even a combination of the two.įor example, the only way to change the place of the Crown in the Canadian system of government is with a constitutional amendment. Most Commonwealth countries would have to undergo a constitutional amendment. The answer depends on what is outlined in the country’s constitution. “But she’s no longer there and Charles is someone who people are very happy to challenge and to criticize.” How does a Commonwealth country become a republic? “The monarchy has gone through some very rough times and the Queen has been the heat shield that can deflect a lot of the criticism,” said Graham Smith, who heads a London-based political advocacy group called Republic. There are also 15 Commonwealth countries, also known as “realms,” that hold King Charles as their head of state: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. It does not give him any political or executive power over any Commonwealth states. King Charles serves as the Head of the Commonwealth, but the position is purely symbolic. The most recent example is Barbados, which voted to become a republic in 2021 – joining Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Dominica and Mauritius. These countries elect their own head of state, instead of being tied to a British king or queen, but remain members of the Commonwealth. Many of these countries have since broken ties with the monarchy and have become their own republics. The Commonwealth of Nations is 56 independent countries that were once part of the British Empire. What is the Commonwealth, and which countries hold the British monarch as head of state?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |