In June this year, Britain’s new Monarch, King Charles III had mentioned that countries that wanted to break away from the commonwealth to become a republic are free to do so. Now, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, many countries are considering a move.

The commonwealth is a group of 56 independent countries.They are mostly former British colonies.

The Commonwealth consists of both republics and realms. The British monarch is the Head of State for the realms. The republics are ruled by elected governments, except in the the case of five countries — Brunei Darussalam, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga — each a selfgoverned monarchy.

The realms are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

The commonwealth nations foster policy coordination among its members. Unlike the United Nations or World Trade organization, it doesn’t have a formal constitution or bylaws. The members have no legal or formal obligation to each other. They just share traditions, institutions, experiences and an association with the British.

A Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is held every two years. The commonwealth games are hosted once every 4 years.

When India and Pakistan got independence in 1947, they became members of the Commonwealth. But in 1949 India announced its intention to become a republic. It moved out of the realm and became a fully sovereign republic in the Commonwealth. The President replaced the queen as head of the state. India was the first of many nations to break away from the commonwealth realm.

In 2021 Barbados removed the British monarch from the role of head of state.
In June 2022, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed for the first time a Minister, Matt Thistlethwaite In Canberra for gradual transition towards a republic.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand has said that her country would support King Charles but added that it would become a republic “in time”.
Similarly Prime Minister Philip Davis of the Bahamas has said he intends to conduct a referendum to remove King Charles from the role of official Head of State. The country became independent in 1973.

Governments in five other Caribbean nations — Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica and Saint Kitts and Nevis have also expressed an interest in becoming republics.

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