Holness reiterates republic move despite slow process

LONDON:

Prime Minister Andrew Holness stressed the island’s intention to become a republic during a short visit to the United Kingdom last week, saying that the process has been protracted as the Government engages in public education and consultation.He said: “We have set indicative timelines. We would have wanted to be able to do this within a year, but the process is not a linear one.”

He said the process had “been elongated” due to “a long period of public education and public consultation”. A timeline for a referendum, required by law to make the change, however has not yet been given.

Holness was in central London to meet with Jamaica-born business-woman Theresa Roberts, owner of the Jamaica Patty Co, who was recently appointed as a special ambassador for the island.

The PM visited the UK following his attendance at the third European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (EU-CELAC) summit in Brussels, Belgium.

During a media blitz and an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Holness shared that the Government planned to sever colonial ties with Britain, following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, in September 2022, and that the “transition” from Queen Elizabeth being on the throne to King Charles would have been an “appropriate time” to split from the Crown. Asked about the royal family’s attitude to the split, he said: “They have been very graceful. The Royal Family and King Charles were very clear to members of the Commonwealth that these matters are for the determination of sovereign nations.”

The British Government “has expressed no view” on the matter, he added.

Despite the controversial visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Jamaica last year, Holness reiterated that the Royal Family is welcome to the island.

Holness added: “There are issues that are unresolved. There are issues that might be contentious, but I think the royals have been and have always been very well received.

“You can see that in the ordinary people who came out to see them, who wanted to associate, on the part of their celebrity. But that doesn’t take away outstanding issues there are.”

The politician insisted, however, that there was public support for Jamaica becoming a republic. He said: “The truth is recent polls have shown there is a tendency towards Jamaica becoming a republic.”

A poll in May showed 49 per cent of Jamaicans supported becoming a republic, 40 per cent in favour of remaining with the monarch,y and 11 per cent undecided.

Holness stressed the need for the diaspora in the United Kingdom to remain connected with the Caribbean island.

The prime minister said: “Part of my duty as prime minister is to interact with our diaspora, and the Jamaican diaspora is quite large, the largest for the Caribbean. A fact that I always pay attention to is that there are as many Jamaicans overseas as there are Jamaicans living on the island, and our diaspora remains very connected with the people on the island. They remain connected with their schools, they remain connected with their communities, they remain connected with their churches, and they remain connected with their families.”

He added: “Another role for our ambassadors - our special ambassadors who we have appointed - is to keep the diaspora engaged, keep the Jamaican flag flying high and to attract not just the cultural and social interest in Jamaica but also to attract and promote the commercial interest in Jamaica.”