Referendum for Jamaica to become a republic likely in next general election

 

Jamaicans might have to wait until the next general election, due by 2025, to decide on fundamental constitutional issues, such as whether the country should remove the British monarch as head of state and become a republic.

 

Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Marlene Malahoo Forte, provided the timeline while speaking in the Sectoral Debate in the House of  Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.

 

Mrs Malahoo Forte announced she is establishing a constitutional reform committee, to conduct a comprehensive review of Jamaica's constitution, including the 2011 Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. 

 

She said her ministry has started work on the constitutional reform and will bring something to Parliament at the start of the next legislative year.

 

After that bill has gone through the House and proper consultations have been done to inform the population and "get them on board", Mrs Malahoo Forte said the next step will be to "go to the people" in a referendum "hopefully by the time the next general election comes around". 

 

The plan could, however, change if more pressing matters arise. 

 

The minister revealed that Opposition Leader Mark Golding has taken issue with the lengthy route the government plans to take, since the two major political parties, the governing Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party, have already agreed on the parameters for Jamaica to become a republic and the "required legislative research has already been done". 

 

However, she maintained that the government does not want to approach the reform in the piecemeal way the constitution has been dealt with in the past. 

 

While she agreed that "much work has been done", Mrs Malahoo Forte suggested that "important substantive issues are yet to be settled".