Mikael Phillips | To be or not to be

The Right Excellent Marcus Garvey, as early as 1932, made the first definitive call for self-governance and shared his vision for what he called “the new Jamaica”.

Garvey explained his dream for Jamaica: “We want the spirit of national comradeship, let us unite and accomplish this, and Jamaica shall indeed become a better place for all of us.”

Garvey’s vision of self-governance was made a reality by Jamaica’s founding fathers, The Right Excellent Norman Manley and The Right Excellent Sir Alexander Bustamante.

The debate on removing the Queen as the head of state has been a long-standing issue in Jamaica for several decades and it is not just at the forefront now. It is vital that Jamaica’s journey to Independence is well understood and the circumstances that led to our Independence on August 6, 1962.

Slavery was present in the Caribbean since the 16th century, and on August 1, 1834, Jamaica gained Emancipation. Following Emancipation in 1834, the struggle for many black Jamaicans against the harsh realities of being a colony of Britain was not over.

In 1938, a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the working, political and social conditions affecting the Jamaican society. This investigation and report led to the drafting and adoption of a new constitution on November 20, 1944, which ensured universal franchise for all Jamaicans, regardless of race and class.

In 1958, the West Indian Federation was established by promulgating the British Caribbean Federation Act of 1956 to establish a political union. The Federation comprised 10 territories, including Jamaica. A national referendum was conducted in 1961 in Jamaica to determine whether Jamaica would continue to participate in this arrangement. The referendum results showed that the majority supported withdrawing from the Federation; this paved the way for Jamaica to gain Independence from the British.

A joint committee of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council worked on drafting the Jamaican Constitution. On January 18, 1962, the Jamaican Houses of Parliament and branches of the Legislature produced the first draft of the Independence Constitution. On February 1, 1962, the proposed Constitution was taken by a bipartisan delegation to London. After substantial amendments, it was unanimously agreed to and had the signature of the British secretary of state and included as the second schedule of the Jamaican (Constitution) Order in Council.

The Order in Council is a form of legislation that is issued by the British monarch acting by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council. The Constitution came into force with the Jamaican Independence Act 1962, granting us political Independence 300 years after British colonial rule.

CRITICAL FOR OUR IDENTITY

The 1962 Independence Constitution made us an independent nation, so why do we have the Queen as our head of state so many years later after our Independence? Why shouldn’t our Constitution be brought home to Jamaica?

Many Jamaicans may not have thought about the issue of Jamaica becoming a republic seriously. This is critical for our identity. As Jamaicans, we are descendants of African slaves and Jamaica becoming a republic is symbolic of us removing the shackles of slavery and oppression and removing the image of our colonial masters who had dominion over us.

There have been so many conversations surrounding the issue of Jamaica becoming a republic. The first Jamaican prime minister to take steps towards becoming a republic was the late Michael Manley, who established a commission for constitutional reform in 1975. Manley desired that Jamaica become a republic by 1981, which did not happen as he lost the election in 1980 to the late Edward Seaga.

Edward Seaga expressed his preference for Jamaica becoming a republic but never made any moves under his premiership. It was not until 1997, under the premiership of PJ Patterson, that he abolished the requirement for public servants to take an oath of allegiance to the Queen, her heirs and successors.

In 2003, PJ Patterson expressed his hope that Jamaica would become a republic by 2007. By this time, the issue of becoming a republic was twinned with the attempted abolition of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the final court of appeal in Jamaica and to replace it with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The then Opposition, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was against that decision. The People’s National Party was defeated in the 2007 general election.

After the 2007 election, Prime Minister Bruce Golding promised that his government would “amend the Constitution to replace the Queen with a Jamaican president who symbolises the nation’s unity”. The JLP was defeated at the polls in the general election of 2011 by the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Portia Simpson Miller.

After her victory at the polls, Simpson Miller publicly affirmed her government’s commitment to republicanism. The PNP lost the election in 2016.

The current prime minister, Andrew Holness, also affirmed a commitment to republicanism upon taking office in 2016 and stated his Government would introduce a bill to replace the Queen with a “non-executive president as our head of state”.

Jamaica’s history has shown that both political parties have outlined their commitment to Jamaica becoming a republic. Therefore, why is it taking so long to bring this to fruition? The need for constitutional reform has been debated for decades, and one aspect of this constitutional reform is the removal of the Queen and bringing ‘home’ all our Constitution to Jamaica. This reform needs bipartisan support and a referendum for the Jamaican people to vote on their desire to remove the Queen as the head of state.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUM

In my Private Member’s Motion tabled on December 8, 2020, I outlined the most cost-effective way to undertake the required referendum by coupling the referendum with the upcoming Local Government elections. If the Government was interested in advancing this matter, they could have promulgated the necessary legislation earlier in 2021. Furthermore, there was enough time from the tabling of the motion to hold consultations with the population, and Jamaica could have been a republic in 2022.

In recent years, Jamaica has elected its first prime minister born post-independence. Mr Holness now has the ideal opportunity to make Jamaica a republic – a promise that several political leaders had intentions to do but never delivered. I am urging the prime minister to act with great alacrity and decisiveness to complete Jamaica’s cycle of Independence.

The replacement of the Queen as our head of state provides a unique opportunity for the Government and Opposition to cooperate in the best interest of the Jamaican people. Our ancestors laid the foundation for so much of the freedoms we enjoy in modern Jamaica today.

Jamaica’s move to become a republic is necessary to complete our cycle of Independence. Our republic status will also signal the dawn of a new era in Jamaica’s political culture. Jamaica becoming a republic will set the stage for collaboration on other issues of national importance, such as crime and poverty eradication.

It is now in the Government’s hands to initiate the process. The Opposition remains in full support of creating a Jamaica that we can all be proud of, a Jamaica that “plays her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race”.

Over to you now, Prime Minister Holness.

Mikael Phillips is Member of Parliament for Manchester North Western and Opposition Spokesperson on Housing, Transport and Works. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com