In House tributes, Opposition recalls ‘dark and ugly aspects of Queen’s reign’
Published:Wednesday | September 14, 2022 | 12:10 AM
As Jamaican parliamentarians paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, members of the Opposition urged the Government to complete the process of independence by removing the monarch as the head of state.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding said The Queen enjoyed the admiration of many around the world, noting that she was an effective monarch who manoeuvred numerous crises.
A recent RJRGLEANER-commissioned Don Anderson poll found that 56 per cent of Jamaicans want the country to remove the Queen as head of state.
“It is an affirmation of the need of our people to have a head of state who is a Jamaican born here and with whom our people can identify readily. We very much look forward to that process being expedited,” he said during Tuesday’s sitting of the House of Representatives.
Golding said he was concerned and indeed disappointed that no progress had been made in achieving that objective.
“This important historic juncture with the transition of the realm from the former head of state, The Queen, to the new head of state, The King affords us an opportunity to redouble our commitment and our efforts to get it done,” Golding said.
Golding was supported by St Andrew South Western Member of Parliament Angela Brown Burke, who said that she could not, as a descendant of field slaves, express condolence without acknowledging the other “dark and ugly aspects of her reign”.
Brown Burke said she would not be silent on Jamaica’s colonial past because she happened to be in the House of Representatives.
“I am duty-bound, while I am extending sympathies, to also place on record that the outstanding issues of reparatory justice and being a full independent and sovereign country must be something that we do not leave behind,” she said.
British High Commissioner Judith Slater was present at the sitting, during which two minutes of silence were observed to recognise the Queen’s passing.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the Queen’s long and transformational reign saw the world go through seismic changes to the evolution of the Commonwealth, the end of the Cold-War era, and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are saddened by the loss of Her Majesty and will always remember her shining example. Hers was a remarkable tenure and an unmatched record of service and leadership. She was a compass of certainty, truth, respect, and compassion,” the prime minister said.
“Her passing marks the end of an era for the people of the United Kingdom and indeed the world, but it also marks a new beginning for the Jamaican state.”
Holness added that, as Jamaica prepared to redefine its sovereign arrangements, the Government and people stood with the royal family in its moment of sorrow.
The Holness administration has signalled that Jamaica will become a republic by the time voters go to the polls to elect a new government, due by 2025.
In Tuesday’s sitting, Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte said the founding fathers of independent Jamaica had such respect for Queen Elizabeth II that they made it very difficult for the country to change its form of government from a constitutional monarchy.
“Even though we have now commenced our process to make the change, until the people of Jamaica say so, we acknowledge His Majesty King Charles III as head of state,” she said, adding that it is her fervent hope that the new beginning will bring a proper reconciliation with the colonial past.
In June, Malahoo Forte, had said Jamaicans will be called on to vote in a referendum as part of the final steps to establish Jamaica as a parliamentary republic to replace the current constitutional monarchy.
The minister had also said that she will table legislation to advance the process at the beginning of the 2023-2024 legislative year.
The process to achieve republic status will begin with the establishment of a committee that will, among other things, conduct a thorough and comprehensive review of the 1962 Constitution, including the 2011 Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedom.
The committee will also review recommendations made through the various constitutional reform commissions and committees in the past.