As Jamaica prepares to join with Guyana, Trinidad, Dominica, and Barbados in becoming a republic, abolishing the British monarch as its head of state, and installing a local Black or brown president, the island’s legal affairs minister says the country may not have a president operating under rules similar to those in other Caribbean or Commonwealth nations.
A constitutional reform commission which has been holding whistle-stop meetings in various parishes in recent months wants, in the end, to add a uniquely Jamaican touch and flavor to its switch from an independent nation to a republic, so some unique ideas are being floated around.
For example, Legal Affairs Minister Marlene Malahoo Forte says some intellectual tinkering is being contemplated to give the person, chosen as the first president if a referendum on reforms approves the change to a republic next year, a mix of both executive and ceremonial powers unlike Barbados, Trinidad, and Dominica where the role of the heads of state is strictly ceremonial and or titular. Guyana is the only one of the former British colonies in the 15-nation bloc with an executive president. Haiti and Suriname, the last two nations to join the grouping, have long had executive presidencies.
“At this stage we’re leaning towards a hybrid presidency. Not a ceremonial president, a president [who] will exercise a set of powers, some ceremonial, some executive. We are tailor-making something for the Jamaican people,” she told attendees at the meeting. “When we say goodbye to the king and we are establishing the republic, a number of questions will have to be answered. What kind of president? How long will the president serve for? What should qualify you to become president?”
The commission has been making the rounds in various parishes and communities, selling the idea of constitutional reform and republicanism to ordinary Jamaicans. To make the switch, local laws will have to be amended and a referendum planned for next year will have to approve the changeover.
She even said that the idea of giving the office holder a 7-year run is being seriously discussed, as it would insulate them and ease the stress of the head of state being reelected or reappointed during the same five-year cycle of a government and prime minister. “We’re hearing the views of Jamaicans.”
Had it not been for the mandatory referendum to be held next year, the island might have been able to have the process at a much more advanced stage than it is now as a two-thirds majority parliamentary vote would have sealed the deal. The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is supporting the idea of Jamaica as a republic, but it prefers a ceremonial presidency.
Minister Malahoo Forte says the committee is seeing an uptake in interest of Jamaicans on the island becoming a republic. She did not furnish details on what kind of powers a local president would have to go along with its role as a final signatory to parliamentary legislation, the swearing in of top constitutional holders and other high officials among other functions.
Ever since Barbados transitioned seamlessly from an independent nation to a republic 20 months ago, island-wide calls for Jamaica to do likewise have been increasing in the regional bloc with a slew of nations from The Bahamas and Belize in the north to several in the smaller Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) sub grouping making noises about joining Barbados and the other pioneers like Guyana which had transitioned as far back as 1970.
Renewed support for republicanism also appears to have been sprung from the visit of various British royals to the region in recent years as many have been booed or picketed once they set foot in various territories in the region.
