Jamaica has officially begun the process of becoming a republic, which could result in Queen Elizabeth being deposed as the country’s head of state in 2025.
The head of the Caribbean nation’s legal ministry confirmed to parliament that the process to depose Her Majesty will begin soon, with the goal of finishing before the next election.
It was also revealed that it will be included in the creation of a new Jamaican Constitution, which, if enacted, would turn the country into a republic without a monarchy.
For Jamaica to become a republic, a number of key votes in both chambers of the Jamaican legislature, the House and Senate, will be held, followed by a public vote.
This comes after the island’s Prime Minister discussed the issue with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their Caribbean tour earlier this year.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness awkwardly informed them that his country was “moving on” from monarchy.
‘There are unresolved issues here,’ says Jamaican Prime Minister to William and Kate.
A poll conducted in 2020 found that more than half of Jamaicans would vote to depose the Queen as head of state if given the option.
The head of the island nation’s Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Marlene Malahoo Forte QC, told its parliament on Tuesday that the move would demonstrate Jamaica’s’self-determination and cultural heritage,’ according to The National.
‘The goal is to eventually produce a new Jamaican Constitution, enacted by the Parliament of Jamaica, to establish the Republic of Jamaica as a parliamentary republic, replacing the constitutional monarchy, and affirming our self-determination and cultural heritage,’ she said.
‘I am pleased to inform this honourable House that work to achieve this goal has formally begun, albeit in stages.’
She also stated that a cross-party committee would be formed to investigate the precise form that the new constitution should take.
‘The reform work to be done in order to achieve the goal of a new constitution requires cooperation between the government and the parliamentary opposition, as well as the seal of the people,’ Ms. Malahoo Forte added.
There is a growing desire in the country, which gained independence from Britain in 1962, to depose the Queen as head of state.
Barbados, another Caribbean country, became a republic in November, replacing Her Majesty with an elected President.
In the Caribbean, Guyana, Dominica, and Trinidad and Tobago deposed her as head of state in the 1970s, while Mauritius in the Indian Ocean declared itself a republic in 1992.
