Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth republics, shown in red

The republics in the Commonwealth of Nations are the sovereign states of the Commonwealth of Nations with a republican form of government. As of May 2017, there are 31 of these. In contrast to the 16 Commonwealth realms, they do not have Elizabeth II or any other monarch as their head of state. Elizabeth II is still the titular Head of the Commonwealth in a personal capacity, but this role does not carry with it any power; instead, it is a symbol of the free association of Commonwealth members.

Except for the former Portuguese possession of Mozambique and the former Belgian trust territory of Rwanda, they are all former British (or partly British) colonies or self-governing colonies that have evolved into republics. Most of them achieved independence as Commonwealth realms and later became republics within the Commonwealth. In some instances, the countries became republics after achieving independence from other former British colonies (as Bangladesh did from Pakistan in 1971).

History

Republics have been allowed as members of the Commonwealth since the London Declaration made on 28 April 1949. Ten days before that declaration, the Republic of Ireland had been declared, ensuring most of Ireland's self-exclusion from the Commonwealth as republics were not allowed in the Commonwealth at that time (Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, remained within the Commonwealth). The Republic of Ireland did not re-apply for membership of the Commonwealth, despite being eligible to do so under the London Declaration.

The declaration was made by India to allow it to continue its membership of the Commonwealth despite its decision, implemented on January 26, 1950, to adopt a new Constitution and become a republic, abolishing the monarchy. Thus, India became the first republic within the Commonwealth. This set a precedent that all other countries were free to follow, as long as they each recognised the position of Head of the Commonwealth. A compromise between the Indian government and those, such as Jan Smuts, who wished not to allow republics membership, the Declaration read:

The Government of India have ... declared and affirmed India's desire to continue her full membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and her acceptance of the King as the symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth.

Following their independence from the United Kingdom, most Commonwealth countries retained Elizabeth II as head of state; the Monarch adopted a title to indicate sovereignty of each of these nations (such as "Queen of Barbados"). With time, many Commonwealth realms became republics, passing constitutional amendments or holding referendums to remove the monarch as their head of state, and replacing the Governor-General with an elected or appointed president. This was especially true in post-colonial Africa. Most African realms became republics within a few years of independence, and usually followed the presidential system. Some states became parliamentary republics, such as Malta or Fiji.

In Fiji, the change to a republic in 1987 came as a result of a military coup, rather than out of any popular republican sentiment. Even when Fiji was not a member of the Commonwealth, symbols of the monarchy remained, including the Queen's portrait on banknotes and coins; and, unlike in the United Kingdom, the Queen's Official Birthday is a public holiday. When Fiji was readmitted to the Commonwealth, the issue of reinstating the Queen as Head of State was raised, but not pursued, although the country's Great Council of Chiefs reaffirmed that the Queen was still the country's "Paramount Chief".

Some republics within the Commonwealth became republics on gaining independence from the United Kingdom; again, this was particularly true in Africa.

While the moves to both independence and republican status have broken the remaining constitutional links to the United Kingdom, a number of Commonwealth countries have retained a right of appeal directly to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; for example, Dominica, Mauritius, and (if the case involves constitutional rights) Kiribati. In contrast with Commonwealth realms and British overseas territories, however, such appeals are made directly to the Judicial Committee, rather than formally being made to "Her Majesty in Council".

Commonwealth membership

See also: Commonwealth of Nations > Termination of membership

Within the Commonwealth, there is no differentiation in status between republics, Commonwealth realms and the members with their own monarchs (Brunei, Lesotho, Malaysia, Samoa, Swaziland, and Tonga).

Membership of the Commonwealth is by common assent of the existing members, and this principle applies equally to territories gaining independence from the UK and to outside territories requesting membership. Until 2007, Commonwealth members that changed their internal constitutional structure to that of a republic had to re-apply for membership. Widespread objection to the racial policies in South Africa resulted in that country deciding not to pursue a re-application for Commonwealth membership when it became a republic in 1961. South Africa was subsequently readmitted as a member of the Commonwealth after democratic elections in 1994. Fiji and the Maldives also did not apply for continued membership after becoming republics (Fiji was likely to be suspended in any case, since a coup had overthrown the democratically elected government), and thus their membership lapsed too.

Current republics in the Commonwealth

In some former Commonwealth realms, including Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mauritius, the new office of President was a ceremonial post, usually held by the last Governor-General, each respective country being a Parliamentary republic. In others, such as Ghana, Malawi and Gambia, the Presidency was an executive post, usually first held by the last Prime Minister, with each respective country being a Presidential republic. In the latter cases, not only was the monarchy abolished, but so was the entire Westminster system of parliamentary government as well.

List of Commonwealth republics

Former Commonwealth realms

Main article: Countries on the former Commonwealth realms

Republics on independence

In each case the republic was created through a new constitution.

	Member state	Year of independence	Year of joining Commonwealth	Type of president	First president	Notes
1	Cyprus	1960	1961	Executive	New appointment
2	Cameroon	1961	1995	Executive	New appointment
3	Rwanda	1962	2009	Executive	New appointment	Independent from Belgium from 1962
4	Zambia	1964		Executive	Incumbent Prime Minister
5	Singapore	1965		Ceremonial	Incumbent Governor (as a state of Malaysia)	Formerly part of Malaysia
6	Botswana	1966		Executive	Incumbent Prime Minister
7	Nauru	1968	2000	Executive	New appointment	Became an independent republic in 1968
8	Bangladesh	1971		Ceremonial	New appointment	Formerly East Pakistan (1955–1971), previously a part of India as East Bengal. Upon independence it became part of Pakistan as part of the Partition Plan in 1947.
9	Mozambique	1975	1995	Executive	New appointment	Independent from Portugal since 1975
10	Seychelles	1976		Executive	New appointment
11	Dominica	1978		Ceremonial	Incumbent Governor (interim)
12	Kiribati	1979		Executive	Incumbent Chief Minister
13	Vanuatu	1980		Ceremonial	New appointment
14	Namibia	1990		Executive	New appointment	Formerly a League of Nations Mandated Territory administered by South Africa. Continued to be de facto administrated by South Africa until independence.

Other republics in the Commonwealth

	Member state	Year of independence	Became a Commonwealth republic	Current government type	First president
1	Fiji	19701	1987	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
2	Ghana	19571	1960	Presidential republic	Incumbent Prime Minister
3	Guyana	19661	1970	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General (interim)
4	India	19471	1950	Parliamentary republic	New appointment
5	Kenya	19631	1964	Presidential republic	Incumbent Prime Minister
6	Malawi	19641	1966	Presidential republic	Incumbent Prime Minister
7	Malta	19641	1974	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
8	Mauritius	19681	1992	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
9	Nigeria	19601	1963	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
10	Pakistan	19471	1956	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
11	Sierra Leone	19611	1971	Presidential republic	Incumbent Governor-General
12	South Africa	19311	1961	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
13	Sri Lanka	19481	1972	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
14	Tanzania	n/a2	n/a2	Presidential republic	New appointment
15	Trinidad and Tobago	19621	1976	Parliamentary republic	Incumbent Governor-General
16	Uganda	19621	1963	Parliamentary republic	New appointment

1. Gained independence as a Commonwealth realm before becoming a republic at a later date.

2. The United Republic of Tanzania was formed in 1964 from the merger of Tanganyika, which had gained independence as a Commonwealth realm in 1961 before becoming a republic in 1962, and Zanzibar, which had gained independence in 1963 and remained a Sultanate until 1964.

Republics formerly in the Commonwealth

Currently, the only former Commonwealth republics are:

• Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a republic and a former member of the Commonwealth; however, it does not fit neatly into a category as such. In 1922, as the Irish Free State, it became a Dominion in the British Commonwealth. In 1937, the present-day Irish state, officially called Ireland, was established. Its Constitution established it as a de facto republic with little reference to a monarchy but equally no reference to a republic either (see Irish head of state from 1936 to 1949 for further discussion on this ambiguity). The Commonwealth chose at the time to continue to regard it as a member as the Monarch was still officially the head of state. In April 1949, following the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, it was deemed by the Commonwealth to be a republic and thus to have ceased to be part of the Commonwealth. Northern Ireland, being a constituent part of the United Kingdom, is the only part of the island of Ireland to remain within the Commonwealth.
• Zimbabwe, republic since 1980, left the Commonwealth in December 2003.
• Gambia was a Commonwealth realm from 1965 until 1970, when it became a republic within the Commonwealth. Yahya Jammeh, the former Gambian president, withdrew the country from the Commonwealth in October 2013. However, newly elected president Adama Barrow has pledged to bring The Gambia back into the Commonwealth. The Gambia is in the process of returning to its membership in the Commonwealth.
• Maldives became a republic in 1968, prior to which it was an independent sultanate from 1965 to 1968; became a republic within the Commonwealth on 9 July 1982. Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016.

Eligibility of other republics to join the Commonwealth

  Commonwealth of Nations member states

  Commonwealth of Nations member state dependencies

  Applied or interested non-member states, some of them without historic constitutional association

  Non-member states that were British protectorates, colonies, mandates or under some other type of British administration

Main article: Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria > Prospective members

The 2007 Kampala review of the Edinburgh Declaration delimits the nations eligible for admission to the Commonwealth to those with "a historic constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member, save in exceptional circumstances". Various republics have a constitutional association with the United Kingdom as being former British-administrated territories. The 2009 admission of Rwanda, which has no such association, was made under the "exceptional circumstances" proviso.

The republics of South Sudan, Sudan, and Suriname have formally made applications, while other republics have expressed interest.

See also

• Monarchy of Australia
• Monarchy of Canada
• Monarchy of New Zealand
• Monarchy of the United Kingdom