Mr Adderley, who served as acting Governor General for two months, following the November 30 retirement of Dame Ivy Dumont, made the statement in an exclusive interview The Guardian.
Yesterday, Mr Hanna, former Deputy Prime Minister, was sworn in as the nation’s seventh Governor General.
Said Mr Adderley: “I think that Mr Hanna might be the last Governor General of The Bahamas as we may succeed the Governor General with a president.
“The Head of State of The Bahamas is the Queen. She is Queen of The Bahamas. That means that a Bahamian will never be a Head of State if that system persists.”
He said Bahamians have been duped for a long time into thinking that the Governor General is the Head of State, adding that the sad part about it is that many people, particularly older folks, do not want a republic and wish for the Queen to remain at the helm.
“And that of course I can’t ever accept. The Governor General is only the representative of the Queen.
That is what is provided for in the Bahamian constitution,” he stressed.
“But a Bahamian should be the Head of State. I support that and that is what I think will happen, and that is what I think the Bahamian people want in 2006.
“Barbados is having a referendum on the same question. They had a Constitutional Commission report and that was one of their recommendations, that they abolish the Queen as Queen of Barbados,” he added.
Regarding the structure of parliament under a republic, Mr Adderley said unlike what some might think, no changes would have to be made to the legislative branch.
“With regard to the actual system, the Westminster system, there is nothing wrong with keeping that. It’s a pretty good system.
I don’t see any way there is going to be a recommendation with regard to abolishing the system,” he said.
“With regard to the appointment of ministers, I don’t see any changes with regard to that.
The Prime Minister must have a Cabinet that he wants, and he can’t have ministers going off on their own making policy for Cabinet.”
Mr Adderley added that the change from a constitutional monarchy to a republic with a Bahamian Head of State (president) would signify a truly sovereign government.
He further noted that the transition would not be as expensive as some might think as it would primarily involve the cost of setting up a mandatory referendum.
“Because we’ve got a constitution which is the most restrictive in the Caribbean with regard to the parliament’s power to amend it without referendum.
There is an enormous amount of items which must go to referendum that is not agreed to by any other Caribbean country,” he explained.
“Based on my experience I believe the Abaco Movement (separatists) had a lot to do with that than we realised at the time.
They had a great deal to do with the restrictions Britain placed on us.”
The Abaco Independence Movement Party started the separatist movement on that island in the early 70s.
The party, which was reportedly supported by 3/4 the island’s residents, sent petitions to the Queen and government. However, the House of Commons rejected the idea and via the 1973 Constitution made such moves more difficult in the future.
By: MINDELL SMALL, The Nassau Guardian
