Holness proposes Vale Royal Talks with Golding on constitutional reform
Published:Sunday | October 12, 2025 | 12:12 AM
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has formally invited Opposition Leader Mark Golding to high-level, bipartisan talks on constitutional reform after Golding publicly rebuffed a proposal for a meeting with the justice minister.
In a letter dated October 10, Holness clarified that the initial suggestion for Golding to meet with Justice Minister Delroy Chuck was merely “courteous and practical as a preliminary step” to brief the Opposition on the Government’s recent Cabinet and portfolio restructuring.
Holness reassured the opposition leader that the minister-to-minister engagement was never intended to be “a substitute for us meeting directly as political and parliamentary leaders of our country”.
Holness proposed the two leaders return to the Vale Royal Talks mechanism, offering it as a crucial “platform to move forward constructively”.
“The Vale Royal Talks have proven useful in the past in providing a space for frank dialogue and principled compromise,” Holness said. “I am hopeful you will accept the proposal, and we stand ready to coordinate the logistics with your team”.
The exchange of letters signals the intense political friction shadowing the nation’s push to remove the British monarchy as head of state become a republic.
Golding’s letter, dated October 3, a reply to Holness’s September 30 invitation, had flatly rejected the proposal to meet with Minister Chuck.
Golding insisted that the only way to initiate the “required partnership” he sought was through a direct meeting with the prime minister. He called for “authentic collaboration” consistent with former bipartisan reform efforts.
Golding leveraged Holness’ own words from his swearing-in speech in September – “Mark, let us partner together to complete the work we started in making Jamaica a republic” – to justify his demand for direct engagement with the political head of the Government.
In his October 10 response, Holness echoed Golding’s belief in collaboration, acknowledging that the opposition leader’s acceptance that “the only route to reaping success in the reform effort is through authentic collaboration” is a shared perspective.
The prime minister explained that following Cabinet changes, Chuck had assumed responsibility for constitutional reform matters, merging the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs into the Ministry of Justice.
Holness also noted that Golding was now the shadow spokesperson on constitutional affairs.
While the dispute over who meets whom appears to be resolved, the deeply contentious policy disagreement – the fate of the UK-based Privy Council – continues to cast a shadow over the reform timeline.
The Privy Council is Jamaica’s highest court.
The Opposition is adamant that constitutional reform must be a single, non-phased effort that simultaneously removes the British Monarch as Head of State and replaces the Privy Council as the final appellate court. The opposition supports the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) being the new final court.
The Government, however, proposed a phased approach, arguing that the issue of the final court should be handled in a later phase and with broad consultation, likely via a referendum. Holness has previously stated a preference for a Jamaican final court.
Holness’ letter addressed the impasse by placing the historical blame for the delay on the final court dispute itself. He noted that the lack of resolution on the CCJ issue caused both parties to publicly prosecute their positions as the general election approached.
Holness cited several instances, including in April 2024 in which he argued that Golding backed away from a previous indications that the Opposition would support the removal of the monarchy.
“Once again, another departure from the understanding that we would work in good faith to achieve republic status, on which we share common ground, and address the matter of the final court in a subsequent phase of the process,” Holness said.
The prime minister wrapped his response by grounding his current efforts in his most recent election mandate.
He quoted his Jamaica Labour Party’s manifesto, which committed the administration to “prioritise Jamaica’s transition to a Republic and continue to broaden national consultations on wider constitutional reform [including our final court] to ensure that the voices of all Jamaicans are heard and respected”.
The removal of the monarchy requires two-thirds support in the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the previous Parliament, the Government’s majority exceeded the 42 needed for support in the House. However, that majority was reduced to 35 following the September 3 general election.
The Senate is structured so that two-thirds support for any legislative change requires at least one opposition member if all government members are in favour.