Republican Myths, Lies and Misconceptions

Over the years,  those who argue in favour of turning Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands into republics have come up with several arguments as to why we should no longer have the Queen as our Head of State, however all the arguments put forward can be refuted, in truth none of the arguments they put forward stand up to scrutiny and  if one really takes time out to examine the substance of the facts instead of listening to popular arguments that “sounds good” then this will become quite apparent to them. Here are some of the ridiculous notions put forward by these treasonous republicans and ways in which their arguments can be answered.

MYTH #1: Our head of state is a  foreigner, not a  Citizen.                                                                                                                                                               FACT:This is the most common republican myth. While it’s true that Queen Elizabeth does not live in the Caribbean, she cannot be labelled as a 'foreigner'. Historically and by tradition Elizabeth II is our lawful Queen. She knows and takes great measures to know everything about her realm and the citizens therein. To say that Queen is a British Citizen is inaccurate, the Truth is that The Queen is not a citizen but Sovereign of all  her realms and territories which include Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Several Caribbean Countries and therefore Citizenship in flows from the Crown. The Queen is not a foreigner, but rather a non-resident -- a professional, globe-trotting head of state for a society which enjoys its existence in a border-less world.

MYTH #2: The Queen represents only the White Elites and Not the Majority who are of African descent.                                                                                                                  FACT:This happens to be one of the weakest republican arguments, and also one of the most widely used. Elizabeth II is the Queen of countless different nations (i.e. Jamaica, the Bahamas, New Zealand etc....) and hundreds of different peoples and cultures.  Also due to the Queen's bloodlines, Elizabeth II is quite "multicultural". Among the strains that can be identified in the backgrounds of the Queen are: Scottish, Welsh,  French, German, Greek, Italian, Persian etc... As such, the Queen is very capable of representing the great majority of Her People. , furthermore not everyone in the West Indies is of African descent, instead the Caribbean region is a melting pot of many different cultures and peoples which have come to our shores over the long centuries of history, such groups would include the British, the Chinese, the Indians and the original native peoples.

MYTH #3: By having a monarch as head of state, democracy can never truly exist.                                                                                               FACT:A weak argument! Even before we gained independence we have always had forms of democracy existing in the Region, The House of Assembly in Barbados goes back as far as 1652 and is regarded as one the oldest Parliaments in the World. Furthermore If we are to Compare Caribbean Countries that use the Westminster system of Government to other Caribbean Governments not under the Crown such as Haiti under “Papa Doc”, the Dominican Republic under Rafael Trujillo or Cuba’s Communist Regime under the Castro Brothers. Then we would find that the Commonwealth Caribbean has a longer and stronger tradition of democracy than their republican counterparts even though we got our independence much later than our Latin American Neighbours. By having a non-partisan monarch, democracy flourishes, By representing the people, the Crown has the authority to dismiss a government that abuses its power or acts illegally. By using emergency powers, The Crown can act if there is a vacuum of political power. Republicans label all this as constitutional fiction. They are wrong! Just because these powers are rarely used, it does not render them useless. These powers provide a safety guard, or Constitutional Fire Extinguisher  which safeguards our precious democracy. Other republicans argue that a president can be non-partisan, or won't have any allegiance/ties to a political party. But how could an elected or appointed President not be partisan, when he/she got their job with the backing of a political party?  Some republicans have suggested the idea of making the Governor-General a ceremonial President and abolish all ties to the Queen.  They wish to abolished the present  system of government and  give their  proposed republican governments the exact powers of the previous royal government. This begs the question of why change something to something exactly the same?

MYTH #4: A Republic adds value and can be a source of National Pride and Unity.                                    
FACT: Given the tribal nature of Politics within  Caribbean countries, it is unlikely that a President allied to any one political movement would never be truly representative of the entire nation instead they would represent only thier  party supporters and thier financial backers.  As for National or regional unity the Queen  is one of the most potent symbols of Caribbean unity all one needs to do is to take one look at an Eastern Caribbean dollar bill or an OECS stamp to see why, as for national pride, we as people of the West Indies have a great number of achievements that we can be proud of as sovereign states without ever having to look to some uninspiring politician as the ultimate head of state

MYTH #5: The appointment of the Governor General is partisan.                                                       Similar to the previous republican argument, this is the republican counter-argument to the monarchist's argument that presidents are partisan. Republicans point out that some Governors-General over the past 40 or more years have been veteran politicians. While this is true, the Governor-General is not the Head of State. This position is held by the Queen.                                                           MYTH #6: The Monarchy is a part of our colonial heritage, but not a part of our own indigenous Traditions.                                                                                                               FACT:Republicans use this argument to point out that history, culture and tradition are not important as a part of nation's identity, Monarchy as an institution represents centuries of tradition in The Caribbean which did not begin with colonization but rather goes all the way back to the time of the indigenous Tainos and Kalinagoes who were rule by Hereditary Chiefs called Caciques for the Tainos and Oboutous for the Kalinagoes. Republicanism on the other hand was never ever part of Caribbean Culture or Heritage; ever since the first indigenous people landed we have always been under the rule of a reigning sovereign.  Considering that tradition and history are the two factors making up a nation's identity To say that The Monarchy originating from Britain makes it irrelevant to our own indigenous culture is a fallacy because the Commonwealth Caribbean as a region is itself derived from many different peoples and their cultures including the Amerindians, The Africans, The Chinese, The Indians and of course The British among several others.

MYTH #7: The monarchy promotes a lack of a Caribbean identity. Or, the monarchy  promotes colonialism.                                                                                                            FACT: This claim is similar to the one made above however it is not true The monarchy is an important aspect of the Caribbean identity. It is part of our history and tradition. The monarchy does not promote British colonialism in any way. West Indians have shed their colonialist past by changing their national anthems, their national  flags, and by a uniquely Caribbean way of doing business in a global community. We share a Queen with the United Kingdom,  Canada, New Zealand and many more nations. What better way to be global than by sharing a monarchy with the many countries?

MYTH #8: The crown is a Waste of Taxpayers’ money. Or, "Why should my taxes line the pockets of the Queen?"                                                                                                                  FACT: This is generally a fairly weak republican argument. For the record: West Indians do not give any financial support to The Queen in her roles as Head of the Commonwealth, or as Sovereign of her Realms. Nor does she receive any salary from any Caribbean government. In this respect, her role as chief volunteer of the Commonwealth is unexcelled.  Some may argue that money used to pay the Governor General could be put to better use, but they fail to realize that if a president was installed he would be the one getting paid this sum and even more, in fact statistics show that most republics spend more on their presidents in terms of allowances than monarchies spend on their entire royal families. Another advantage of having a monarchy is that money that would have been wasted on  Presidential Elections in a republic can now be put to better use.

MYTH #9: Other Commonwealth nations are dumping the Queen, why shouldn't The Caribbean do the same?                                                                                                                       FACT:  Republicans point out that Jamaica and Barbados are on their way to becoming republics. . After a divisive debate, the People of St Vincent voted against a republic in November 2009.  Of all the countries in the Commonwealth Caribbean Only 3 have Embraced Republican Status and republicanism was imposed without ever putting the issue to the people for them to vote in a referndum, The rest of the West Indies have chosen to remain loyal to the crown. Using the 3 republics as an example to show lack of support for the monarchy is erroneous as that is not even half the numbers of total states in the English Speaking Caribbean, the Majority are still within the Queen’s Domain.

MYTH #10: Having a Monarchy is backwards, a republican system is a sign of forward thinking         
FACT: In what way is the monarchy in any way impeding the Progression of Caribbean States into  modern, progressive societies?, we are world leaders in  many different areas  producing some of the best world has ever seen in areas such as the sciences, the arts, business, sports, music and culture  . Nor does being a monarchy seem in any way to hinder societies as diverse as Japan, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands, compare that to republics such as Zimbabwe or even our neighbours in Haiti . In the end, the statement is one of free expression of opinion. That it is not deeply considered, however facts may be ascertained from examining the United Nations’ annual Human Development Index. In the latest available report, seven of the ten highest-ranked countries in the world are constitutional monarchies, three are republics. While this does not prove monarchy or republic superior, it certainly shows that monarchy is no barrier to being modern and forward-thinking
                                MYTH #11: Monarchy does not take in the dreams and aspirations of our Children and Youth who might have ambitions to ascend the highest office of their Native Land                                                
FACT: A ridiculous claim seeing as in the Commonwealth Caribbean most political power though vested in the Crown is actually exercised by elected officials and every Child or young person can aspire or work towards being Prime Minister of their country if they so choose, and even in Parliamentary republics like Dominica more young people would still have their eyes on Prime Minister’s job rather than that of the President, in any case for those whom wish to become head of state as a native born subject of the Crown, they  can always have a shot at becoming the next governor-general, which is a highly respectable position to have.

Myth #12 : Ending the monarchy is a symbol that we are truly independent, free of all colonial links
FACT: The peoples of the Caribbean realms have demonstrated their independence  in many different  ways, we elect our own political leaders, manage our own economies, we conduct our own domestic and foreign affairs, we maintain our own security and armed forces and are generally recognized as sovereign states by the entire international community, ever since our independence, no nation within the global community has ever challenged our right to sovereignty, what else do we need to prove that we are indeed free? In fact the very monarchy itself is a guarantor of our nationhood since the constitutions of the Commonwealth Caribbean are all promulgated in the name of the Queen, On the other hand  some republics today still have disputes over territorial integrity and political independence examples include Kosovo, Taiwan and South Sudan.