PRESIDENT INSTALLED

A FRESH chapter on history’s page has been written for Barbados as this country is now a Parliamentary Republic with President, Dame Sandra Mason, as the head of state.
Citizens locally and across the globe witnessed this special moment at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday as celebrations commenced to mark this island’s 55th anniversary of Independence.
In her first address to the nation after taking her oath of office, President Dame Sandra charged and called on “Barbados and all its people to personal and national excellence and greatness.” She stated “we are Barbadians, we the people must give Republic Barbados its spirit and its substance. We must shape its future; we are each other’s’ and our nation’s keepers. We the people are Barbados.”
The historic Ceremony to Declare Barbados a Republic and The Inauguration of the President of Barbados was held in National Heroes Square, the city. It included a military parade involving armed and unarmed troops. Among the evening’s special guests were His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Barbados’ lone living National Hero, The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers and Barbados’ Ambassador, Robyn Rihanna Fenty.
In his remarks, HRH The Prince of Wales noted that the creation of a Republic offers Barbados “a new beginning but it also marks a point on a continuum, a milestone on the long road you have not only travelled but which you have built.”
He also used the occasion to speak about the friendship he has enjoyed with Barbados and high- lighted the good diplomatic relations that will remain between the two countries.
“As your constitutional status changes, it was important to me that I should join you to reaffirm those things which do not change. For example, the close and trusted partnership between Barbados and the United Kingdom as vital members of the Commonwealth. Our common determination to defend the values we both cherish and to pursue the goals we share and the myriad connections between the people of our countries through which flow admiration and affection, cooperation and opportunity, strengthening and enriching us all.”