Barbados elects first-ever president, replacing British monarchy

Aljazeera says Barbados has elected its first-ever president to replace the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth as head of state in a decisive step towards shedding the Caribbean island’s colonial past.

Sandra Mason was elected late on Wednesday by a two-thirds vote of a joint session of the country’s House of Assembly and Senate, a milestone, the government said in a statement, on its “road to republic”.

A former British colony that gained independence in 1966, the nation of just less than 300,000 had long maintained ties with the British monarchy. But calls for full sovereignty and homegrown leadership have risen in recent years.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/21/barbados-elects-first-president-replaces-british-monarchy