Jamaican PM says island wants to cut ties with monarchy as he welcomes royal couple

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness advised Prince William and Kate on Wednesday that the British Commonwealth nation intends to develop into a republic in an surprising announcement that comes as different nations contemplate reducing ties with the monarchy.

Holness additionally famous that there are “unresolved” points as he greeted Prince William and Kate in entrance of a media scrum.

“We’re shifting on,” he mentioned. “We intend to … fulfil our true ambitions and future as an unbiased, developed, affluent nation.”

The previous British colony would develop into solely the second Caribbean island to sever relations with Queen Elizabeth lately, with Barbados having develop into a republic in November.

The royal couple, who flanked Holness on both aspect when he made the announcement, didn’t instantly react besides for less than a few transient head nods.

The announcement stunned many on the island of almost three million individuals and unleashed a flurry of textual content messages and telephone calls.

“I didn’t know that the prime minister was going to say what he mentioned in the present day. I feel it’s a essential step ahead,” mentioned Carla Gullotta, director of Rise up for Jamaica, a non-profit human rights group that joined dozens of different teams and leaders in signing a lately revealed letter demanding an apology and slavery reparations from Britain.

She advised The Related Press that her telephone began buzzing simply minutes after Holness made the announcement.

It comes a day after Gullotta and others joined a protest held hours earlier than the royal couple arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday as a part of a weeklong tour of Central America and the Caribbean. The journey, organized on the behest of the Queen, coincides with the seventieth anniversary of her coronation.

“This go to has introduced again to mild that many Jamaicans are trying ahead to Jamaica turning into a totally unbiased republic,” she mentioned, including that the island has all of the alternatives and potential to take action.

Nevertheless, Gullotta famous that many fear about ongoing authorities corruption, which has eroded individuals’s confidence. “If you don’t belief these main the nation, it will likely be onerous for individuals to take a stand,” she mentioned.

Veteran lawmaker Mike Henry has additionally advised the AP he worries that calls for for an apology and slavery reparations won’t be addressed if Jamaica chooses to develop into a republic.

In the meantime, Gullotta mentioned she would not assist reparations within the type of a cheque, which she known as “ridiculous.” As a substitute, she mentioned, Jamaicans needs to be compensated in different methods, together with with scholarships and entry to well being care.

“What was not supplied up to now needs to be supplied now,” she mentioned.

Britain dominated Jamaica for greater than 300 years, forcing tons of of hundreds of African slaves to toil the land beneath brutal circumstances. Jamaica gained its independence in August 1962, but it surely remained a part of the British Commonwealth.