The Republic of Jamaica - All or Nothing?
JAMAICA OATH OF ALLEGIANCE: I, [name], do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles the Third, His Heirs and Successors according to the Laws of Jamaica and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Jamaica and fulfil my duties as a citizen of Jamaica. So help me God.
Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith (they forgot Father of Dragons?). The monarchy of Jamaica is a system of government in which a hereditary British Monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Jamaica. King Charles III is the current Jamaican monarch and head of state. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Jamaican Crown. The current monarch is officially titled King of Jamaica and elected members of our Political Class swears an Oath to King Charles III His Heirs and Successors.
Under the current constitution of Jamaica, it is legal for elected members to have a commonwealth passport and it is illegal for elected members have non-commonwealth passport, that is the law of the land. Therefore, going on and on about the possibility that the leader of the opposition might be a British citizen is rubbish, not when you swear an Oath to the White King of Britain, King Charles III.
When we become a Republic, any elected members holding a passport that is not a Jamaican passport, either Commonwealth or Non-Commonwealth, should not be allowed to run for office and that includes the leader of the Leader of Opposition and any members of the political class. We cannot have elected members sitting in Parliament with foreign passports in dem back pockets, one leg in Parliament and one at the airport. Having a foreign passport in Jamaica is like striking gold, it has too much personal value to them, and they become foreign agents. Some Jamaicans would sell their mothers and first born to secure foreign passport and visas and the leaders of those foreign countries knows it and uses it to their advantage. We must oppose any attempt to change the constitution to allow foreign agents.
It is wrong to treat something that is now constitutionally legal, part of the law of the land, as if it is illegal and a crime and the person treated like a criminal. A more permanent solution is to change the law to make all dual citizenship illegal. Doing so would remove all doubt, and end all debate based on partisan emotions. A person would have to renounce or quiet politics. Going back and forth is pointless, but I believe some love this pretend got you moment to score political points. No person should give up their Commonwealth Citizenship so long as the law of the land declares it legal. Change the constitution, make it illegal.
What I agree with the JLP on is that Mark Golding is being a bit hypocritical. He cannot push for CCJ on the grounds that it is all or nothing, then turns around and says that all of nothing should not apply to him and people with Commonwealth Citizenship. Mark Golding stated that the next Republic Constitution should retain Commonwealth passport clause. Why? Because you have one? I agree with you that we should switch to CCJ from the UK Privy Council. There is just too much corruption in Jamaica, we cannot give these elected officials an escape route. I oppose any party and politician who would make this selfish change. People with British Citizenship must be treated like people with American citizenship, they must not be allowed to hold seats of power.
The JLP is also being hypocritical, after 2007 election the JLP had people in parliament with American Citizenship and was fighting to keep people with American citizenship in parliament, which was illegal/against the law as far as the constitution is concerned. They hate the fact that Golding has British citizenship but they refuse to switch from the UK Privy Council to the CCJ. With regards to the Republic and CCJ, I am not an all or nothing person. I am willing to put CCJ on hold while going full speed ahead on becoming a Republic. We can always revisit the switching from the Privy Council to CCJ later.
The British must be laughing their heads off at us. We are not even out the starting blocks and already we are falling apart because we are tribal and lack unity as a people. Both parties are cherry picking and opposing for full political effect.
The Constitutional Reform Committee is a committee of the Government of Jamaica tasked with revising and reforming Jamaica's constitutional arrangements, including the abolition of the monarchy. The committee was approved by the Cabinet of Jamaica on 16 November 2022 as a consultative, collaborative committee. It was to be supported by a secretariat provided by the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs. The opposition leader, Mark Golding, criticised the government for excluding discussion of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from the purview of the committee.
What will be the major changes to the constitution? Will we remove the dual citizenship clause? If the dual Citizenship clause is removed then it becomes irrelevant if Mark Golding renounced his British Citizenship. Since he would have no choice but to renounce it or quit politics. Will we be switching from the UK Privy Council to the Caribbean Court of Justice? So far the JLP option is to either stay with the UK Privy Council or have our own final court of appeal. It is clear the JLP hates the rest of the Caribbean, so much so that he does not consider them an option. I will not even bring up the question of family members packing up parliament, which I think is counterproductive to our democracy.
Under the Current Constitution:
- King Charles III is the Sovereign King of The Monarchy of Jamaica
- King Charles III is the Head of State of Jamaica
- Members of our Political Class and Judiciary and Military, Pledge Allegiance to and Swear an Oath to His Majesty King Charles the Third, His Heirs and Successors according to the Laws of Jamaica.
- The Privy Council of the United Kingdom is the highest court of appeal for Jamaica
- The Constitution of Jamaica makes it Legal for people with Commonwealth Citizenship to be valid members of the Jamaica's political class and sit in the Parliament of the Land, even becoming Prime Minister.
Politicians have long since realized that a dumber semi-literate population is easier to manipulate and easier to control. The educated progressive population are harder to manipulate and control because they have higher expectation, better understanding of the laws and more progressive nation building demand. That is why Holness can declare that Mark Golding having British Citizenship is untenable. That something enshrined in the constitution of the land since 1962 is untenable. It is very convenient and makes not sense.
If I had my way:
- Remove the British Monarchy, Remove the King as Head of State and King of Jamaica
- I would Remove Dual Citizenship from the Republic Constitution
- I would switch from the UK Privy Council to the Caribbean Court of Justice
- I would make it illegal to have close family members in parliament
To ask one individual to give up his legal Commonwealth Citizenship is useless symbolism and worthless political point scoring. Especially when there are many others sitting in parliament with Commonwealth citizenship from other countries. To fix this problem once and for all, we need proper legislation not cheap political gimmicks. If we cannot operate like this then we will be having this debate over and over. No person in parliament should have any other passport or citizenship other than a Jamaican passport and citizenship. Let’s end this once and for all for everyone, right across the board.
Political, Tribal War!
It is very evident that both the PNP and the JLP are playing politics with the Republican movement. I had hoped that the republican movement would have been conducted outside of the the political arena but because it is taking place so close to an election, that destroyed all hopes. They are going at each other like cats and dogs and as a result we will not get the Republic we deserve. They and their simpleminded minions are being Pettie and nit-picking trying to score cheap political points, playing the blame game for full effect. One would think, people who are suppose to be educated would put aside their political differences and act in the National interest. But that is not to be, they are failing us again. The questions we ask of a person after they are elected are like putting the horse before the cart. When a person decides to run for political office, they should be made by law to make certain upfront declarations under oath about themselves. This would eliminate the boring he said she said, childish political nip-picking that we are subjected to.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is a grouping of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members. It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens. We need to get pass our colonial differences and unite to fight for our common interest. That is what the White Western World Order does when they want to subdue us and bend us to their will. Yes colonial engineered ignorance runs deep among us but we must overcome it and unite. The British long since realized that our division gives them more control over us and the White Western World Order is counting on that division. Little small island sandbanks hate each other and for what? For scraps from the table of the White Western World Order. With this mentality their will never be a Black World Order because we hate the very sight of our selves in the mirror.
Why do these clowns get to decide my faith and the future of my country?
- 36 out of the 56 Member States of The Commonwealth of Nations are republics:
- Commonwealth realms: 15 member states with Charles III as their monarch and ceremonial head of state
- Monarchies: Five member states with their own monarchs, including Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga
- Republics: 36 sovereign states with a republican form of government
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