In response to Fandango’s Who Won the Week posts, I have been looking at my own newsfeeds.
I do actually have a winner this week.
I’m overjoyed to announce my winner as Sandra Mason.
Who?
Well, this week, Barbados became the world’s newest republic, and this woman was elected its first president by the Barbadian parliament.
And the reason I’m so happy for them is because Barbadians now have the right to do something that I do not – to choose their own Head of State.
Nominally, Ms Mason will serve an initial four-year term. And I hope she does well. If not, she’s accountable to the Barbadian parliament, which has the power to replace her with someone they think is better able to do the job.
That’s something else I’m not able to do, by the way. To hold my Head of State to account. Because monarchs don’t have accountability – they can be as good or as bad as they please, and it doesn’t matter, they have the job for life.
Purely and simply, in this day and age, it’s all about people being given a choice through a ballot box.
When people assert that the UK is a democracy, challenge it. The word Demos means “by the people”. I’m the people, yet I don’t have a say in something as fundamental as who represents me to the world!
When they tell you that the UK is “free”, challenge it. We’re free, just so long as we stay inside the tiny cell into which we’ve been imprisoned.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-59470843
Mister Bump 
Good on her, I hope she does well. 😁
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Agreed.
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We are women here us roar !😁👏👍
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Well, they thiought her the best person for the job, pure and simple.
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Of course! But Barbados accomplished something freakin US can’t
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It’s a fact of life, unfortunately, that the world is controlled by rich, old, white men.
But women help to keep it so!
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I’m not going there !
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Thatcher was evil. Lots of people don’t like Mutti, I wouldn’t say gender is a deciding factor. Or look at Sarah Palin.
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It is controlled by rich old white men who keep getting richer. They will never know how the poor or even the middle class live. It is who has the most money to run a campaign that seems to win. I would love to see more women as
the head of countries. We need that difference.
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This is a celebratory event. Thanks for sharing. I hope to someday say my country has a female leader. I hope so many things for my daughter and watching gender roles get challenged and seeing women lead, it all helps.
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I’m sure that one day it’ll happen, as long as they’re the best person for the job. They used to say that about black guys, too.
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When I think about UK, I always thought of a power which once ruled the world, now democratically working its way ahead. As far as I know, aren’t you guys able to elect the prime minister directly by your vote? I mean yes, you cannot challenge the Royal Family, but you can the people who run the parliament.
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Yes, but more civilised countries elect both. They are two different roles.
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I would say, more civilized countries would just have one role. No need of monarch in today’s day and age.
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I’m not sure, but many countries that I can think of have a head of state and a prime minister. A lot of European countries do, at any rate. Does India?
Some Euro countries still have “royal families” who just live as regular citizens. I’m not sure how they fit into the fabric of the state.
But yes, the idea that you have one person who is somehow better than everybody else, who can do no wrong, is obsolete.
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