Dame Sandra Mason.Photo: JOHN STILLWELL/AFP via Getty
Barbados has its first-ever president elect.
Dame Sandra Mason, 72, was elected when she won a two-thirds vote during a joint session of the Caribbean nation’s House of Assembly and Senate on Wednesday.
Mason, who is the currentgovernor-general of Barbados, will be sworn in Nov. 30 on the 55th anniversary of Barbados' independence from Britain. At that time, Mason will replaceQueen Elizabeth IIas the head of state in the nation’s process of becoming a republic,CNN reports.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the election of a president was a “seminal moment,“according to Sky News. “We have just elected from among us a woman who is uniquely and passionately Barbadian, does not pretend to be anything else [and] reflects the values of who we are.”
Mason has worked as a schoolteacher, a magistrate, the ambassador to Venezuela, Chile, Colombia and Brazil and she was the first female Court of Appeal judge of the Supreme Court of Barbados,according to her official bio. She served as registrar of the Supreme Court until 2005.
“With such an outstanding career, Dame Sandra also takes an avid interest in reading, playing [S]crabble, watching cricket and travelling,” according to her bio. “However, her greatest achievement is being the mother of son Matthew, who is also an Attorney-at-Law.”
Barbados, a former British colony with apopulation of nearly 300,000, announced plansto become a republiclast year. Its independence from Britain dates to 1966.
Queen Elizabeth (left) and Dame Sandra Mason.Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty
The Queen remains head of state for15 other sovereign countriesthat were previously under British rule, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The last country to replace her as its figurehead was Mauritius in 1992, 24 years after its independence.
Barbados has been a favorite stop for royals through the years, with the Queen visiting the island multiple times since she first set foot on its soil in 1966, just as it was securing independence.
Mottley said of her country’s historic step away from Britain and the Queen, “We look forward to continuing the relationship with the British monarch.”
source: people.com
