Republicanism in Jamaica is a position which advocates that

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

's system of government be changed from a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

to a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. Both major political partiesthe

Jamaica Labour Party The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP; ) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party (as is the case for "Labour" parties in se ...

and the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) (PNP; ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Jamaica, political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by Norman Manley, Norman Washington Manley who served as party president unti ...

subscribe to the position, and the current

Prime Minister of Jamaica The prime minister of Jamaica () is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was sworn in as prime minister on 7 September 2020, having been re-elected as a result ...

Andrew Holness Andrew Michael Holness, (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has served as Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, having previously served from 2011 to 2012, and as Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) since 2011. Ho ...

, has announced that transitioning to a republic will be a priority of his government. In June 2022, the Jamaican government announced its intention for Jamaica to become a republic by the time of the next general election in 2025. The process will include a two-thirds majority vote in parliament and a referendum.

Background

In the lead-up to Jamaican independence in 1962, the

Parliament of Jamaica The Parliament of Jamaica () is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. Officially, they are known as the Houses of Parliament. It consists of three elements: The Monarchy of Jamaica, Crown (represented by the Govern ...

established a cross-party

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

select committee to prepare a new constitution. The committee received several submissions calling for Jamaica to become a republic, which it "heard politely, but rejected unceremoniously". The People's Freedom Movement, an

extra-parliamentary opposition An extra-parliamentary opposition, also referred to as simply extra-parliamentary or extraparliamentary, is a political movement opposed to a ruling government or political party that chooses not to engage in elections. Many social movements could ...

party, suggested that the constitution include a provision for a referendum on a republic at a later date, but this was not carried out. Both major party leaders in Jamaica in the lead-up to independence (the JLP's

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and Jamaica Labour Party leader, who, on Independence Day, August 6th, 1962, became the first prime minister ...

and the PNP's

Norman Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate o ...

) were opposed to Jamaica becoming a republic. Law professor Stephen Vasciannie has suggested that the decision to retain the monarchy at independence was due to several factors, including a desire for continuity and stability, a desire to demonstrate the maturity required for independence, the popularity of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

amongst Jamaicans, and tendencies towards

Anglophilia An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. In some cases, Anglophilia refers to an individual's appreciation of English history and traditional English cultural ico ...

among the political elites.

History

The first Jamaican prime minister to make steps towards a republic was

Michael Manley Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Jamaica, from 1972 to 1980, and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been ...

, whose

(PNP) came to power at the 1972 general election. His government established a commission into constitutional reform in 1975, and in July 1977, following a march to commemorate the

Morant Bay rebellion The Morant Bay Rebellion (11 October 1865) began with a protest march to the courthouse by hundreds of people led by preacher Paul Bogle in Morant Bay, Jamaica. Some were armed with sticks and stones. After seven men were shot and killed by t ...

, Manley announced that Jamaica would become a republic by 1981. However, his government was defeated at the 1980 general election by the more conservative

(JLP), led by

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician and record producer. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.

. Seaga was also a Republican, having expressed a preference for a "

ceremonial presidency A titular ruler, or titular head, is a person in an official position of leadership who possesses few, if any, actual powers. Sometimes a person may inhabit a position of titular leadership and yet exercise more power than would normally be expecte ...

" in 1977. Despite this, no concrete moves towards a republic occurred during his premiership. In 2002, the Parliament of Jamaica, with the PNP, led by P. J. Patterson, holding the plurality of seats, abolished the requirement for public servants to take an

oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...

to the Jamaican monarch. At a PNP conference in September 2003, Patterson expressed his hopes that Jamaica would become a republic by 2007, stating that "the time has come when we must have a head of state chosen by us". However, his government's attempts to transition to a republic were stifled by its simultaneous attempts to abolish the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

as the final

court of appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

in Jamaica and replace it with

Caribbean Court of Justice The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ or CCtJ; ; ) is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Established in 2005, it is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbean Court of Justice has two jurisdictions: an ...

. The opposition JLP was against that decision (which would also have required a constitutional amendment) and made their support for republicanism conditional on a referendum being held for the judicial changes, which was not forthcoming. The PNP was defeated in the 2007 general election. The new prime minister, JLP leader

Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he led from 2005 to ...

, promised that his government would "amend the constitution to replace the Queen with a Jamaican president who symbolises the unity of the nation", but the JLP's term in Cabinet came to an end at the 2011 general election without any formal steps towards a republic having been taken.

Portia Simpson-Miller Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller (born 12 December 1945) is a Jamaican politician who served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2016. She was leader of the People's National Party from 2005 to 2017 and Leader of the O ...

, the PNP leader and new prime minister, also publicly affirmed her commitment to republicanism, stating a preference for an elected president. However, the PNP lost power at the 2016 general election without bringing about constitutional change.

, Simpson-Miller's successor as prime minister, also affirmed a commitment to republicanism upon taking office and stated his Cabinet would introduce a bill to replace the Queen with "a non-executive president as head of state". During the

2020 Jamaican general election General elections were held in Jamaica on Thursday, 3 September 2020

, the PNP promised to hold a referendum on becoming a republic within 18 months if it won the election. However, the ruling JLP, which had in 2016 promised a referendum but not carried one out, was re-elected and stated that holding a referendum remains a goal. In April 2022, former Prime Minister PJ Patterson resigned from the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

in support of a push for a republic. The Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs,

Marlene Malahoo Forte Marlene Patricia Malahoo Forte is a Jamaican politician. She has been the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs since January 2022, and was the Attorney General of Jamaica from 7 March 2016 to 10 January 2022. She served as a Senator ...

, announced that the transition is to be completed by the time of next

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, currently scheduled to be in 2025. Popular support for republicanism accelerated following the

death of Elizabeth II Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the List of monarchs in Britain by length of ...

. In the lead-up to King Charles III's coronation on 6 May 2023, Forte stated that a referendum could even be held in 2024 and emphasised that the coronation itself accelerated this process. In February 2024, the government announced in the Throne Speech that the legislative priorities for the next parliamentary year will focus on "amendments towards establishing the Republic of Jamaica". However, the following month Forte stated that legislation around a transition to a republic was unlikely to be passed in 2024. In addition, the JLP and PNP have taken stances regarding the role of the judicial branch in the process of establishing a republic, with the PNP preferring to replace the Privy Council with the

during the process and the JLP, which its opposed to joining the CCJ, preferring to establish a local apex court in Kingston during the second phase of the process.

Legal process

All amendments to the

Constitution of Jamaica The Constitution of Jamaica is the collection of laws made by the government. It is the supreme law of Jamaica. It was drafted by a bipartisan joint committee of the Jamaican legislature in 1961-62, approved in the United Kingdom and included as ...

must be approved by an absolute majority in both the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. However, certain sections of the constitution, including those on the monarchy, can only be amended if they are approved by a two-thirds majority in both houses and submitted to a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

Relevant legislation

In May 2024, the Jamaican parliament passed the ''Constitution (Amendment of Section 61) Act, 2024'', which removed the reference to the sovereign from the words of enactment. In September 2024, the Jamaican government announced that it had received two draft bills from the chief parliamentary counsel. The ''Constitution (Amendment) (Republic of Jamaica) Bill, 2024'' provides for the Jamaican constitution to be amended to replace the Jamaican monarch with a non-executive president, and also for the constitution to undergo a process of "Jamaicanisation", where it is deemed to have been enacted by the Jamaican parliament and people rather than as a statute of the United Kingdom. The ''Referendum Bill, 2024'' provides for the proposed amendments to be taken to a public vote, as required by section 49 of the constitution. In December 2024, a bill was tabled on transitioning to becoming a republic, after which it requires review by joint committees, followed by a parliamentary vote and finally a referendum.

Opinion polling

A 2012 poll showed that 45% supported the move to a republic with 40% in opposition. A 2020 poll showed 55% of respondents in Jamaica wanted the country to become a republic. A Don Anderson poll conducted in 2022 showed 59% support for becoming a republic, with 27% in opposition. An Ashcroft poll conducted in February and March 2023 showed that 49% of respondents supported the country becoming a republic, with 40% opposing and 11% not knowing or would not vote. August and September 2023 found support for becoming a republic at 45%, with 26% opposing. A March 2025 survey hosted by Pollfish found 33% support for a republic, 22% support for sharing a monarch with the United Kingdom, 12% support for Jamaica having its own resident monarch and 33% undecided.

References

External links

Road to Republic
- The Jamaican government's Constitutional Reform Committee website on becoming a republic. {{North America topic , Republicanism in Republicanism in Jamaica

Politics of Jamaica