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Jamaica is on track to remove King Charles III as its head of state by 2025, the nation’s state foreign minister has said.
Alando Terrelonge, a member of parliament and state minister, said the nation is gearing towards becoming a republic after more than 350 years of colonial rule.
The move will mean the former British colony would become “truly liberated” while honouring its African ancestors who were trafficked, brutalised and enslaved by Britain for centuries, he said in an exclusive interview with The Independent.
“We remain hopeful that by 2025 we would have completed those reforms and removed the British monarch as the head of our democracy,” he said, adding “notwithstanding it being a figurehead and that real power resides with the government of Jamaica and the people of Jamaica.”
Charles is currently king of Jamaica and a British monarch has ruled Jamaica since imperialists colonised the country in 1655.
However in 2022, the country’s prime minister Andrew Holness announced intentions for the realm to become a republic during an ill-fated royal tour of the country by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The goal is for this process to be completed by the time of the next general election in 2025, building upon discussions raised by successive governments in Jamaica since the 1970s.
“I’ve always maintained that we owe it to our ancestors who fought and died so that we could be free, we owe it to the framers of our constitution, the work done by our national heroes, for Jamaica to now walk as truly liberated and independent,” said Mr Terrelonge, during a visit to London.
“With having a Jamaican head of state, every single young king and young queen in Jamaica can aspire to one day be the head of state of their own country, and we’ll no longer have to, figuratively or not, pay respect or swear allegiance to a foreign monarch.”
In order to become a republic, Jamaica must table the Constitution of Jamaica Bill which would need to be passed in both houses of parliament in Jamaica with a two-thirds majority vote, according to Jamaica’s Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte.
This bill would then be followed by a referendum on the question of whether Jamaica should become a republic, which will have to be approved by the majority of people who are registered to vote in general elections.
Last year, prime minister Holness appointed 14 members of a Constitutional Reform Committee to discuss the necessary steps in transforming Jamaica into a republic including who the president, replacing the British monarch, will be.
However, the committee has been described as a flawed undertaking that reportedly excludes anti-monarchists and representatives from the LGBT+ communities.
Moreover, the fact that the majority of committee members are lawyers has drawn criticism that the group lacks the diversity and does not reflect Jamaica’s population.
In recent years, various Jamaican government representatives have reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to ditching the monarchy and Ms Malahoo Forte has previously said that Britain’s poor track record on racism, failure to apologise for slavery and perpetration of the Windrush scandal all contributed to reasons why Jamaica is keen to become a republic.
Meanwhile, Mr Terrelonge told The Independent Jamaica continues to lobby the British government to scrap visa restrictions for its citizens so they may freely travel to the UK.
The topic was a point of discussion during a group of British MPs’ recent visit to Jamaica in November, he revealed, on a trip aimed at “strengthening bilateral ties and foster meaningful discussions” through a parliamentary exchange programme.
“Last year, I received several of the British parliamentarians at the ministry of foreign affairs and, of course, the question of visa was at the top of the list as well. It remains an ongoing concern for us.
“Given the historic ties between Jamaica and the UK, we believe it would be good for the visa restrictions to be lifted.”
As a point of compromise, the state minister suggested that Britain should begin by lifting travel restrictions on Jamaican creatives, business owners and members of government.
Jamaica is currently the only country with the British monarch as head of state that requires visas to enter the UK. All Jamaican citizens are subject to the restrictions if they wish to enter the UK.
“When I travel for work, I still need a visa to come to the United Kingdom even though I travel on a diplomatic passport,” he explained.
This sanction was introduced in 2003 and the UK government’s own data reveals a significant number of refusals of visitor visa applications from Jamaica.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
The Jamaican government faces ongoing calls to cease doing business with Conservative Party donor Frank Hester following his reported racist comments about Diane Abbott, Britain’s first Black woman MP, who happens to be of Jamaican heritage.
In 2022, Mr Hester’s company, TPP, was given a $5 million contract to implement its electronic health record system in Jamaica.
Though Mr Terrelonge declined to comment on that specific call and stopped short of condemning Mr Hester, he said: “The comments about my colleague Member of Parliament were very unfortunate and should never have been said.
“I hope that as human beings, we reflect upon the things that unite us and move away from things that would seek to set us apart, whether it’s gender, race, religion… We must see ourselves as one humanity.”
