Letter of the Day | Start ‘moving on’ to a Jamaican Republic now

THE EDITOR, Madam:

National Integrity Action (NIA) calls on the Government to clearly separate the move to “Our Jamaican Republic” promised by Prime Minister Holness, and prior to him, prime ministers Golding, Simpson-Miller, Patterson and Seaga, from the timetable for a “comprehensive review of the 1962 Constitution”.

Submissions for Jamaica to have a non-monarchical head of state were actually made by citizens and civil society organisations to the drafters of the Independence Constitution 60 years ago. Those submissions were rejected by the leadership of both the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Sixty years later, however, to their credit, both parliamentary political parties have come to a consensus on the need to “move on” from the Queen of England and to appoint a Jamaican as head of State in “Our Jamaican Republic”.

This consensus did not develop easily, nor overnight. It came following a number of discussions in parliamentary committees on constitutional reform and through constitutional commissions on which served leaders of both parties alongside the widest stakeholder representation from civil society groups, and including significant consultations with the public. Similarly, by 2020, a majority of Jamaicans – as reflected in both Don Anderson and Bill Johnson polls – have moved from doubt to support of separation of ties with the monarchy.

In marked contrast, there has been far less discussion and, as Minister Marlene Malahoo Forte acknowledged – no consensus, on what the minister correctly describes as “a comprehensive review of the 1962 Constitution of Jamaica … [and] the extent to which the existing structure of Government ought to be modified or preserved.”

Even more so, there has been no significant proposal to discuss, much less review, as proposed by the minister, ‘The 2011 Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms’. This latter followed on comprehensive consultations inside and outside of Parliament, and has significantly strengthened the rights of our people, compared to the 1962 Independence Constitution.

To achieve consensus on a “comprehensive constitutional review”, as the minister proposes, desirable as that would be, will take – if experience is anything to go by – at least a decade, while we already have consensus on the removal of the Queen as head of state. To the extent that the Government is tying the move to a republic to agreement on a comprehensive constitutional review, is the proposal that we should wait until the 70th anniversary of Independence to remove the Queen? Whether this is the case or not, NIA urges that we separate the timetable for achieving consensus on a necessary comprehensive constitutional review from implementing the existing consensus on removing the Queen of England and establishing a Jamaican republic, with our own head of state, through the required process leading to a referendum.

PROFESSOR TREVOR MUNROE

Principal Director

National Integrity Action