Barbados becomes a republic and elects a female president

(ANSA) - ROME, OCTOBER 21 - The island of Barbados has elected its first president, a female magistrate and governor, who will take the place of the British sovereign as head of state, and will officially become a republic from October 30, the day of the inauguration .

This is Sandra Mason, 72, who was also the first woman to serve as judge of the Court of Appeal of the Caribbean island, of which she held the position of governor general since 2018.

    Mason was elected president by the two branches of parliament - the House of Assembly and the Senate - in a joint session: a moment that the premier of Barbados, Mia Mottley, called "fundamental". The inauguration with the relative oath will take place on November 30, on the day of the 55th anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom. Bridgetown decided last year to make independence total and break away from the colonial past by formally becoming a public. A step, the latter, already taken by three British excolonies in the Caribbean area: Guyana in 1970 (only four years after independence), Trinidad and Tobago in 1976 and Dominica in 1978.

    With a population of around 285,000, it has become one of the richest Caribbean islands, since it converted from a monoculture dependent on sugar cane plantations to a diversified economy active in the sectors of tourism and finance.

(HANDLE).