Trevor Munroe | ‘Moving On’: All hands on deck needed urgently

On March 23, 2022, yet another Jamaican prime minister – this time in the person of Prime Minister Andrew Holness – made yet another commitment that Jamaica would be “moving on” to become a republic. This latest commitment coincided with the letter from the Advocates Network signed by hundreds of Jamaicans, including me, insisting that among other demands, Jamaica separate itself from the Monarchy.

The commitment comes at a time when the words of PM Holness are more true now than when said six years ago; “significant numbers of Jamaicans have lost hope in our system.” Equivalently, significant numbers of Jamaicans would have little confidence in the words of the prime minister that we are moving on. The questions are: How can we make sure that we are really moving on? Can hope be restored? The prime minister himself told us how in his inaugural address six years ago. Fewer words! “Jamaican people want to see action in building trust … trust requires actualisation of commitments” (March 3, 2016).

Truthfully, there are some hopeful signs of “actualisation” - that we are “moving on”. In January, a minister of legal and constitutional affairs was appointed. In February, the Vale Royal Talks, after a long delay, were resumed between the leaders of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) – and constitutional reform was an agenda item. Before this, leading up to the 2020 General Election, the JLP’s manifesto promised to “engage in widescale consultations and [a] referendum on constitutional reform … regarding the Queen as head of state and electoral reform … fixed election dates, term limits, and impeachment”. But we the people need more than hopeful signs to give us confidence that we are really moving on.

LENGTH OF TIME PASSED

Let us remember the number of occasions and the length of time that has passed since commitments to move to the Republic of Jamaica have been given and have not been actualised. Let us start with the landmark commitment almost 30 years ago from our Constitutional Commission. This was no ordinary commission. It included then leader of the Opposition, former Prime Minister, the late Edward Seaga; Dr Horace Chang; Senator Dorothy Lightbourne; and five other JLP representatives. It included eight PNP representatives, among them then Senator, Dr the Hon Peter Phillips. The commission also included representatives of the Bar Association; the University of the West Indies, (interestingly, one of whose representatives was current Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck); three representatives of the trade unions; three from the churches; two from the teachers associations; two from women’s organisations; two from the private sector; two from farmers’ organisations; and two from youth organisations.

The members of the commission not only consulted among themselves, but held public-education forums and produced a booklet on the Jamaican Constitution entitled Some Basic Facts and Questions, authored by none other than Dr Lloyd Barnett, himself a member of the commission. The commission received 129 submissions from individuals and organisations – more than had been received by the Independence Constitution-making committee in 1961.

The commission’s recommendation was clear and subsequently accepted by a Joint Select Committee of Parliament: “Replacing the Queen as Head of State with a President appointed by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and confirmed by two-thirds majority of both houses of Parliament. Term of Office of six years, and limited to two terms.” The only disagreement was whether the two-thirds majority should be in each House meeting separately or together. The commitment to move on then is now being repeated almost 30 years later. No actualisation.

COMMITMENT REMADE REPEATEDLY

In between then and now, the commitment has been remade repeatedly. In the Budget presentation in April 2011, PM Bruce Golding indicated that he wanted Jamaica to mark its “50th year of independence free of the colonial ties to the British Monarchy… the transfer of Jamaica from a monarchical to a republican state means no disrespect to the Monarchy.” In January 2013, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller repeated the commitment in her inaugural address, “In this 50th anniversary year, we will initiate the process for our detachment from the Monarch … Time come!” We are now in the 60th year of independence. In between, time, seemingly, hasn’t come.

For time to come now, for Jamaica to really move on, it has to be all hands on deck. Our people are already there. In 2020, national surveys found for the first time, that the majority of Jamaicans were in favour of separating from the British Monarchy. Don Anderson’s poll for The Gleaner found 59 per cent in favour while Bill Johnson’s poll for Daily Observer found 55 per cent in favour. Each of these reflecting a shift in public opinion from a few years earlier.

What is to be done now? First, we must insist that there be a national approach – involving government, opposition, and civil society – towards the referendum required to become a republic. Let us be mindful that where there is division, the people are unlikely to turn out to vote, and the majority in favour is less assured. Recall St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009. PM Gonzalves was so popular that he was returned to office in the 2010 elections. However, the ‘yes’ vote for a republic, despite being supported by the prime minister and his party, lost the referendum – not least of all because the parliamentary Opposition was against. The outcome: 43.7 per cent for and 56.3 per cent against. Similar experience obtained in other Caribbean territories where the leadership was divided: there were multiquestion referenda ballots and turnout low.

Second, an early date needs to be set for the naming of a broad-based Advisory Committee on Constitutional Reform to develop and monitor the steps and timetable towards beginning and concluding the Parliamentary process, the necessary prelude to the national referendum. This would naturally have to include materials for a multimedia awareness-building programme as well as participation and mobilisation at the community level.

Actualising the commitment to move on would not only begin restoring trust that governmental authorities can deliver on promises made. It would also demonstrate that the country can come together on critical national issues. And for that reason, provide the confidence and the framework to move on promptly to other long-overdue constitutional reforms such as the adoption of the Caribbean Court of Justice as Jamaica’s final Appellate Court, the constitutional entrenchment of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (and other Parliamentary Commissions), and provisions for impeachment of public officials.

We missed the 40th and the 50th anniversaries of Independence. Now all hands are needed on deck to leave the monarchy and decisively advance the process of national independence in our 60th year of sovereignty.

Professor Trevor Munroe is principal director, National Integrity Action. Send feedback to info@niajamaica.org or columns@gleanerjm.com.