A FEW YEARS AGO when the Constitution Review Commission sat, I was one of those in favour of a republic, primarily because I believe in getting off the steps of the Colonial Office, as the late Prime Minister Errol Barrow admonished.
But again, what has Britain all of a sudden done against Barbados that our Prime Minister wants to shake off the Queen? Does the Prime Minister believe or want us to believe that republican status will improve the economy greatly – and overnight? Would it help our “pride and industry”?
I believe these things, advertised in our motto, need to be overhauled, washed and clothed in honesty, truth, integrity and real transparency.
To my mind, the Prime Minister needs to get very much everything else in order before talking about a republic.
I believe it is clear to all and sundry, including the Prime Minister himself, that all is not well and that everything is being piled at his door. The buck stops there, as they say.
However, I believe he can redeem himself and go down in world history as the great man and Prime Minister who legislated that a lawyer shall, within 28 days of having received monies on behalf of a client, hand over the monies to said client – or else! I am confident that centuries later people far and wide would still be quoting and thanking the great and noble Prime Minister Freundel Stuart of Barbados.
In those days to come many visitors, including history scholars, would want to see where he was born, visit his statue and reflect. And on leaving declare, “What a man!” We today can say in advance: what a legacy!
– HORACE GREEN
