Charles Naik Taktah: Bekas Colonial In The Caribbean Calls For Change Of Dismissal And 'Dismissal' Of The King As Head Of State

Barbados PM Mia Mottley, Barbados President Sandra Mason and Charles at the inauguration of President Barbados late last year. (Twitter/@ClarenceHouse)

JAKARTA - King Charles' access to the British throne has sparked a new call from politicians and activists of former colonies in the Caribbean to remove the king as head of their country and for Britain to pay compensation for slavery.

Charles replaced his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled for 70 years and died on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral Castle, Scotland.

The Prime Minister of Jamaica said his country would mourn Elizabeth, and her colleagues in Antigua and Barbuda ordered the raising of the flag by half-mast until the day of her funeral.

But in some places, there are doubts about the roles that must be played by the king far in the 21st century. Earlier this year, some Commonwealth leaders expressed anxiety at a summit in Kigali, Rwanda, about the transition of the leadership of the club 54 countries from Elizabeth II to Charles.

While on an eight-day tour in March, Prince William and his wife, Kate,'s next heir to the levy, Jamaica, and Bahamas was marked by calls for payment of compensation and an apology for slavery.

"When the monarchy's role changes, we hope this can be an opportunity to advance discussions on reparation for our region," Niambi Hall-Campbell, a 44-year-old academic who heads the Bahamas National Reparation Committee, said Thursday.

Hall-Campbell sent condolences to the Queen's family, recording Charles' acknowledgment of "terrible slavery cruelty" at a ceremony last year marking the end of Britain's rule when Barbados became a republic.

He said he hoped Charles would take the lead in a way that reflected "the justice needed at that time. And justice is reparatory justice."

More than 10 million Africans belonging to the Atlantic slave trade by European countries between the 15th and 19th centuries. Those who survived the brutal journey were forced to work on plantations in the Caribbean and America.

Jamaican advocate Rosalea Hamilton said Charles' comments at the Kigali conference on his personal sadness over slavery offer "several levels of hope that he will learn from history, understand the painful effects many countries have suffered to this day" and address the need for reparation.

Charles himself did not mention the repairs in Kigali's speech.

Meanwhile, the Advocates network, coordinated by Hamilton, published an open letter calling for "apology and compensation" during William and Kate's visit.

The Queen's grandson has the opportunity to lead the reparation talks, Hamilton added.

The Jamaican government last year announced plans to ask the UK for compensation, for forcibly transporting about 600,000 Africans to work in sugarcane plantations and bananas, creating wealth for British slave holders.

"Anyone who will take over should be asked to allow the royal family to pay compensation for Africans," said David Denny, secretary general of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, from Barbados.

"We all have to work to get rid of the royal family as heads of our nation," he said.

Jamaica has hinted that it will soon follow Barbados in the 'leaving' of the royal government. Both remain members of the Commonwealth.

Separately, a survey in August showed 56 percent of Jamaicans supported the abolition of the British king as head of state.

Mikael Phillips, a member of Jamaica's opposition parliament, in 2020 proposed a motion in favor of the removal.

"I hope as the prime minister puts it in one of his expressions, that he will move faster when there is a new king," Phillips said Thursday.

Meanwhile Allen Chastanet, former Prime Minister of St. Lucia and now the opposition leader, told Reuters he supported what he said was a "general" movement towards republicism in his country.

"I will of course at this point support becoming a republic," he said.