The president of Barbados is the head of state of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

and the commander-in-chief of the

Barbados Defence Force The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) is the name given to the combined armed forces of Barbados. The BDF was established 15 August 1979, and has responsibility for the territorial defence and internal security of the island. The headquarters for the ...

. The office was established when the country became a parliamentary republic on 30 November 2021. Before, the head of state was Elizabeth II,

Queen of Barbados The monarchy of Barbados was a system of government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign and head of state of Barbados from 1966 to 2021. Barbados shared the Sovereign with the other Commonwealth realms, with the country's monarchy be ...

, who was represented on the island by a governor-general. The first and current president is Sandra Mason, who previously served as the last governor-general.

History

In 1979, a commission of inquiry known as the Cox Commission on the Constitution was constituted and charged with studying the feasibility of introducing a parliamentary republican system. The Cox Commission came to the conclusion that Barbadians preferred to maintain the constitutional monarchy. The proposal to move to a republican status was therefore not pursued. The 1994 manifesto of the

Barbados Labour Party The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), colloquially known as the "Bees", is a social democratic political party in Barbados established in 1938. Led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, it is the governing party of Barbados and the sole ruling party i ...

dealt with the republic issue, proposing a referendum. In line with this promise, on 29 October 1996 a Constitution Review Commission, chaired by

Henry de Boulay Forde Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, was appointed to review the

Constitution of Barbados The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law under which Barbados is governed. The Constitution provides a legal establishment of the Government of Barbados, as well as legal rights and responsibilities of the public and various other governm ...

. The Commission reported back on 15 December 1998, and recommended that Barbados adopt a parliamentary republican system. In 1999, the Barbados Labour Party's manifesto proposed that the findings of the commission and its recommendation that Barbados become a republic would receive the early attention of the government. A referendum bill was introduced in parliament and had its first reading on 10 October 2000. With the dissolution of parliament just prior to the elections in 2003, the bill was not carried over. Prime Minister

Owen Arthur Owen Seymour Arthur, PC (17 October 194927 July 2020) was a Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date. He also s ...

established in 1998 a constitutional commission led by Henry Forde. It concluded, "Barbadians, with few exceptions, believe that our head of state should be a citizen of Barbados by birth or descent, who lives in Barbados." Arthur subsequently called for a referendum on becoming a republic to be held in 2005. Accordingly, a second referendum bill was introduced in 2005, and passed into law in October 2005. The referendum under the 2005 act was planned to be held concurrently with the

2008 Barbadian general election General elections were held in Barbados on 15 January 2008.David Thompson replaced Arthur as prime minister, and the plan was shelved. On 22 March 2015, Prime Minister

Freundel Stuart Freundel Jerome Stuart, OR, PC, SC (born 27 April 1951) is a Barbadian politician who served as seventh Prime Minister of Barbados and the leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013; and from 21 Febru ...

announced his intention to move the country towards a republican form of government "in the very near future". The general secretary of the Democratic Labour Party, George Pilgrim, confirmed the move and said that it is expected to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Barbadian independence in 2016. The Barbados Labour Party government of Prime Minister

Mia Mottley Mia Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to hold ...

announced in its Throne Speech in September 2020 that Barbados would become a republic by November the following year, abolishing the position of monarch of Barbados and replacing that of governor-general with a president (of Barbadian nationality) as head of state, as Mottley asserted that "Barbadians want a Barbadian head of state ic. It was this proposal that was eventually enacted into law—on 20 September 2021, the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021 was introduced to the Parliament of Barbados, and was subsequently passed on 6 October. Prime Minister Mia Mottley described the move as "having the confidence that we can be responsible for our affairs, in every respect — and that means having a Barbadian head of state." It instituted a parliamentary republic with a prime minister as head of government and a predominantly ceremonial president as head of state. The first candidate for president of Barbados, the Governor-General of Barbados, Sandra Mason, was nominated jointly by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition on 12 October 2021, and subsequently

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...

by parliament on 20 October. Mason took office on 30 November 2021.

Election

The president is elected by the

Parliament of Barbados The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados.Constitution, Chapter V, Part 1; Section 35 The Parliament is bicameral in composition and i ...

. The prime minister and the

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

jointly nominate a consensus candidate 90 days before the incumbent's term is due to expire, and that candidate is then elected in a walkover without a vote unless any member of Parliament lodges their objection. If an objection is lodged, the joint sitting is suspended and the two Houses of Parliament, the Senate and the House of Assembly, meet separately and each vote on accepting or rejecting the nominee. A

two-thirds majority 2/3 may refer to: * A fraction with decimal value 0.6666... * A way to write the expression "2 ÷ 3" ("two divided by three") * 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines of the United States Marine Corps * February 3 * March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – ...

of valid votes in each house separately is then required to elect a candidate on all rounds of balloting. If no consensus candidate is nominated by the 60th day before the end of the incumbent's term, the election is opened to other candidates. To gain

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

in such an open election, a candidate must be nominated either by the prime minister, the leader of the opposition, or at least ten members of the House of Assembly. The requirement for a two-thirds majority of valid votes in each house separately also applies in an open election; this means that if only one candidate has been nominated, the voting system is the same as when a consensus candidate has been objected to.

Temporary vacancy

Whenever the office of president is temporarily vacant; until a new president is appointed; and whenever the holder of the office is absent from Barbados, on vacation, or is for any reason unable to perform the functions conferred upon them by the Constitution, those functions are performed by an individual appointed by the prime minister, after consultation with the leader of the opposition, to serve as acting president. However, if the president is suspended from office in case of ongoing

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

proceedings, the president of the Senate of Barbados serves as acting president. The presidential line of succession is not defined beyond that.

Constitutional role

Government House, Government Hill, Barbados-001

Barbados' constitution gives the country a Westminster parliamentary system of government based on that of the United Kingdom, wherein the role of the head of state is both legal and practical, but not political. Similarly to other parliamentary republics in the Commonwealth of Nations such as India and Trinidad and Tobago, but unlike continental European parliamentary states such as Germany and Italy, the president of Barbados is formally vested with great constitutional power extending to all three branches of government. In practice, the constitutional conventions that bound the head of state and her representatives when Barbados was a constitutional monarchy are expected to remain in force, meaning that executive power will continue to be exercised by the prime minister and cabinet as per the amended constitution, which states the president "shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet" except in certain circumstances, usually described as the

reserve powers Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US ...

Executive powers

Simplification of govt structure of Barbados(Republic)

The president is the nominal source of executive power. The president is almost always bound by convention to exercise this power on the advice of the prime minister and cabinet. Hence, in normal practice, like the

British sovereign The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

(and heads of state in other Westminster systems), they ''reign'' but do not ''rule'', and executive authority is exercised by the prime minister and their cabinet, on behalf of the president. The president appoints as prime minister the individual most likely to maintain the support of the House of Assembly; usually this is the leader of the political party with a majority in that house, but also, when no party or coalition holds a majority (referred to as a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

situation), or other scenarios in which the president's judgement about the most suitable candidate for prime minister has to be brought into play. The president must additionally appoint to Cabinet, on the advice of the prime minister, at least five other ministers. All ministers are accountable to the democratically elected House of Assembly and, through it, to the people.

Legislative powers

The president, along with the Senate and the House of Assembly, is one of the three components of parliament. Since the president is almost always required to act on the advice of the cabinet, the president's role in the legislative process is limited to assenting to bills and signing them into law. However, the president has the absolute power to withhold assent to Bills passed by Parliament (i.e. to veto without parliamentary override). Furthermore, a form of

pocket veto A pocket veto is a legislative maneuver that allows a president or other official with veto power to exercise that power over a bill by taking no action (keeping it in their pocket), thus effectively killing the bill without affirmatively vetoing ...

exists: the Constitution does not give a specific time frame for presidential action on a Bill passed by Parliament, thus the president can hypothetically postpone the signature of a Bill indefinitely, effectively vetoing it. Further, the Constitution outlines that the president is responsible for appointing senators — twelve on the advice of the prime minister, two on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and seven by the president at their discretion to represent various religious, social, economic, or other interests in Barbados. The president additionally summons, prorogues, and dissolves parliament; after the latter, the writs for a general election are usually dropped by the president at State House. In practice, these powers are almost always exercised on the advice of the cabinet.

Judicial powers

The president has the right to appoint judges on the joint recommendation of the prime minister and leader of the opposition,

, Section 80(1) and pardon offenders.

Official oath of office

According to the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2021 and the First Schedule section of the

, the official

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...

or affirmation for the president of Barbados is as follows:

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited

External links

Barbados Government - President of Barbados
{{Heads of state and government of North America 2021 establishments in Barbados Heads of state of Barbados Republicanism in Barbados