Holness announces constitutional reform committee 

Dana Malcolm

Staff writer 

#Jamaica, March 27, 2023 – As the Government of Jamaica advances in its quest to become a Republic  Andrew Holness, Prime Minister has announced the creation of a Constitutional Reform Committee. 

The government says the group of 15 ‘will play a key role in ensuring Jamaica’s smooth transition to a Republic’ .  The committee includes youth advisers, ministers, the Attorney General, appointed members from both sides of the house, reparations, experts, and constitutional experts.

Holness said he was confident that the country would be able to meet the ambitious timelines set and that would be one step further in ‘redefining who we are as a country and as a sovereign people’ 

“There may be the view that it is a straightforward and simple task of just changing the name of the country from that of a constitutional monarchy to a republic; that is not the case. There are many legal steps that we have to go through and there is the matter of a referendum, the outcome of which no one can predict,” he said, 

Work will be done in three phases and phase 1 will abolish the constitutional monarchy, and establish the Republic of Jamaica following a referendum to let the citizens have a say in how they want to proceed. 

Agitation about its colonial status had been rife in the Caribbean country following Barbados’ transition to a republic, and came to a head with the Royals visit, which was met with protests by several groups. Holness, who did not campaign on splitting Jamaica from the UK, announced to Prince William and his wife, Kate, during their 2022 visit that the country would soon seek to become a republic. 

Since then, the process has moved swiftly and decisively, and with the creation of the committee should continue to do so.