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Full Text | Opposition to engage Royals on reparation, republic status

Published:Monday | March 21, 2022 | 12:52 PM
Golding: It is in the interests of the Jamaican people that the Opposition be present and able to make our views on these fundamental issues known to the Royals.

The Opposition says it will participate in the activities of the Royal Visit this week to make known to the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall its views on fundamental issues of reparation and making Jamaica a republic.

The Duke and Duchess will arrive on Tuesday for a three-day visit.

Protests have been planned as groups of Jamaicans press for reparation.

According to Opposition Leader Mark Golding, constructive dialogue is the best way to move this process forward.

"The issues at hand are not about current personalities, but rather about the imperative of a principled reckoning with the past, and I intend to communicate directly our position on these issues,” he said.

See full text below:

The Opposition has been made aware of the impending visit of TRH the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, and the Leader of the Opposition has been invited by the Government of Jamaica to participate in various events during the visit, including their arrival at the airport, a visit to his constituency and a state dinner.

The Opposition has been consistent:

· In repeatedly calling on the Government to commence and diligently pursue, with bipartisan support, the constitutional process for Jamaica to become a republic by replacing the British monarch with a Jamaican as our Head of State; and

· In our support for the Reparations Movement in the struggle for reparatory justice in respect of the genocide of indigenous peoples and the horrific injustices inflicted on peoples of African descent during the centuries of the slave trade, chattel slavery and the plantation system in Jamaica and other countries.

The Opposition is also aware of planned protests during the visit, and of calls for the British monarch to make an authentic and profound apology for the role played by their family in the Slave Trade, chattel slavery and the plantation system, and also for a public acknowledgement that they benefited from it.

The Opposition agrees that such an apology and acknowledgement would be an appropriate way for the British Monarchy to commence the process of atonement for their role in this aspect of our history.

Given his constitutional office, the Leader of the Opposition has decided that the Opposition should be present at the events to which we have been invited, one of which will be in his constituency.

Opposition leader Mark Golding said:

“It is in the interests of the Jamaican people that the Opposition be present and able to make our views on these fundamental issues known to the Royals.

"Constructive dialogue is the best way to move this process forward, and attending these events provides an opportunity for this.

"The issues at hand are not about current personalities, but rather about the imperative of a principled reckoning with the past, and I intend to communicate directly our position on these issues.”

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