The Oath of Allegiance, which parliamentarians and some other public officers swear to the British Monarchy, ought to have been changed as a necessary step in Grenada’s independence process, according to MP Peter David.
“I want to give my allegiance to Grenada, not to the King of England or the Queen of England — when there was a queen — or any foreign entity. I think it has to be, I give my oath to serve the people of Grenada,” said David, parliamentary representative for the Town of St George and also leader of the opposition group, D Movement.
A bill to change the oath was tabled and debated on Thursday in the House of Representatives.
“I will be voting on Thursday in favour of changing the oath of allegiance to an oath to the people and the State of Grenada,” David said in a television interview.
He said he is “happy” with the change, calling it a “continuing of a process” that included formal political independence from Britain on 7 February 1974. “Independence is not an event, it’s a process,” David emphasised. “We have to achieve ultimate independence.” The change of the Oath of Allegiance is “clearly a step in furthering and deepening that process of independence,” said David. “I believe it gives dignity to our people and to our country.”
Other next steps in the process “to establish absolute independence” include Grenada becoming a republic, David said.
D Movement
This is just a case of politicians feeding on their own ego and not tending to their main responsibility of sorting the economy.
The King, like the Pope, holds soft power that can benefit us. Are we forgetting the fact that Canada is fighting to avoid being converted into the USA’s 51st State and that the King helped calm things down?
Utter rubbish. It’s very disgusting for these folks to play on the emotions of the people.
There are lots more important things to deal with than dwell on allegiance.
The Oath of Allegiance, should be given to both King and people un;less there’s some racism hidden in this demand