Time to sever ties with Queen
Published:Saturday | June 2, 2018 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The editorial titled 'Divorce the monarchy, Markle notwithstanding' (Gleaner, June 1, 2018) is light years ahead of the political system in modern Jamaica, which appears to be encrusted in the past Crown Colony thinking.
It was indeed a creative venture to use the recent royal marriage as the central feature of the political analysis of Jamaica's independence and sovereignty. I agree with the position that there has been a history of vigorous calls by our various political leaders to remove the monarchy as head of state in independent Jamaica, but those demands have become elusive.
The Gleaner has taken the lead in calling for Jamaica to divorce the monarchy for republicanism. There is a larger problem that is implied in the article - the inability of political leaders to craft a cohesive plan for a republic.
One would think that the majority of Jamaicans would be sensitive to the slave history that ties us to Britain. Some locals were "more sanguine about keeping the constitutional link with Britain" long before the marriage between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. I agree with the newspaper wholeheartedly that the time has come for Jamaica to move past "outsourcing its symbol of authority to the British sovereign".
LOUIS E.A. MOYSTON