'Jamaica Ready To Be a Republic'

Leader of the People's National Party of Jamaica, Portia Simpson Miller, will be returning to office as prime minister of the Caribbean-island nation of Jamaica. The PNP scored an upset over the JLP., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

'Jamaica ready to be a republic'

Sat Jan 7, 2012 3:45AM GMT
presstv.ir

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller has said that her administration will adopt a republican approach and abandon the Queen of England as head of state.

Simpson-Miller, whose People's National Party (PNP) won the December 2011 parliamentary election, made the remarks in the Jamaican capital Kingston on Friday.

Simpson-Miller says the time has come for Jamaica to break with the British monarchy and have its own head of state.

She said, “I love the queen. She is a beautiful lady, and apart from being a beautiful lady, a wise lady and a wonderful lady. But I think the time has come.”

Jamaica's move to loosen colonial ties with the UK reflects an accelerating shift toward republicanism among members of the Commonwealth of Nations -- an intergovernmental organization of fifty-four independent member states -- in the region.

The announcement comes ahead of celebrations to mark 50 years of independence from Britain, and just a short time after it was announced that England's Prince Harry will make a Diamond Jubilee visit to the Caribbean country in March to commemorate the monarch's 60-year reign.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said, “The issue of the Jamaican head of state is entirely a matter for the Jamaican government and people.”