The previously undated resignations letters, which have been used to remove two Senators opened up a historical can of worms. We have heard that the rationale for the undated letters of resignation was to ensure that no Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senator voted against the JLP’s position on the Caribbean Court of Justice. The JLP has repeatedly stated that they want a referendum to decide if the the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) becomes the final appellate court of the land.

When Edward Seaga was the leader of the Opposition, the JLP decided not to co-operate on the matter of republican status if the then Patterson-led People’s National Party Administration went ahead with bringing Jamaica under the jurisdiction of the CCJ without a referendum. To this P J Patterson replied with respect to a referendum “fahget it”.

The Will

I have written before that I am of the opinion that P J Patterson would not want to call a referendum because of what happened on the occasion of the one and only time that a referendum was ever held in Jamaica. Then premier, Norman Manley, had called the referendum. It was to determine whether Jamaica should remain a part of the West Indies Federation.

I believe that Patterson did not want a referendum because in the anti-federation campaign by the JLP in 1961 the federation was hardly mentioned, if at all. In the campaign leading up to the referendum, PJ Patterson was a law student in England. He wrote that the place where the idea of the West Indies Federation had the greatest support was with the West Indians in England, where they bonded because of the common problems they faced.

The JLP used most of the referendum campaign time to complain about the building of the Sheraton Hotel — whose latest name was Wyndham; at least up to the time of the fire — the construction of the National Stadium, the construction of the Ministry of Education, and the development of Negril, all of which were deemed a waste of money by the JLP, led by Alexander Bustamante. And here I am referring to the referendum campaign, not to a general election where it would be quite in order to do so.

I am very concerned that the movement to republican status has been stopped because of the political ambition of some of our politicians. After the PNP won in 2011, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller spoke in favour of Jamaica becoming a republic, and implied that it would happen in the life of the present Government.

Will that happen at all, since for that to happen there needs to be a two thirds vote of both houses, plus a referendum? At no time does the Government have two thirds of the Senate since 13 and not 14 out of the 21 senators are recommended to the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and the rest goes to the Opposition.

All the way back in the early 1990s, when the so-called gang-of-five problem surfaced in the JLP, I wrote in the now defunct Jamaica Record that it was the best time to go for republican status, since then Senator Hugh Dawes had become an independent and might have given the Government the necessary 14 senators to make two thirds of the Senate. This was not done and republican status remains talk.

In 1975, Michael Manley, as prime minister, named a committee to deal with constitution reform. It was officially launched on the day that the four sevens clashed (July 7, 1977); a day on which, legend had it, Marcus Garvey had said all sorts of things were to happen. There was a symbolic re-enactment of the Paul Bogle-led march in 1865, from Stony Gut in Morant Bay, where Michael Manley outlined a programme for the implementation of republican status by 1981. And now, 32 years later, we are still not yet a republic.

The Way

Becoming a republic will be a psychological break from mental slavery. No, republican status will not feed hungry bellies, and republican status by itself will not magically transform Jamaica into a First World state. But the psychological boost that should come with it, coupled with a mental education that emphasises conscientisation, should help our Vision 2030 goals.

The JLP, under the leadership of Edward Seaga, outlined the sort of republic they would like to see, first in the 1977 budget speech by Edward Seaga and then at other times. But while the JLP returned to office in the 1980s and again between 2007 and 2011, nothing was done about it.

But are we yet ready for republican status when so many misguided persons still argue that Jamaica was better under The Queen? In my opinion, we have to do it sometime, and now is as good as ever, otherwise we will never be ready. If The Queen arrived today it might not even be on the front page of the newspapers. Sixty years ago, however, it was different.

Retired court judge Hugh Small told a Jamaica College Old Boys’ luncheon in 1993 that he was a student at Jamaica College (JC) in 1952 when Britain’s King George VI died. Then principal Hugo Chambers summoned the school to tell them that he had just heard on short wave radio of the passing of The King. And the boys sobbed and some shouted, “Long live The King”.

Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father King George VI. Her first visit to Jamaica was 60 years ago this past Monday — November 25, 1953 — while we were still a British colony.

Jamaicans were so enraptured with her coming that a baby that was born post- mature and by breech delivery at the same hour The Queen arrived was neglected by the nurses. And this was at the private St Joseph’s (Roman Catholic) Hospital. While the nurses listened on radio, the doctor shouted “forceps”, but could not get their attention. How dare this baby be born at such a momentous hour!

As the nurses ignored the commands of the doctor, two Irish nuns filled the breach and delivered the baby boy into this world, who was born having been deprived of oxygen and immediately put on a respirator and was not expected to live. How do I know all this? My mother told me. I was the baby mentioned here. And, yes, I am 60 years old as of this past Monday. The question then is, was the 21-gun salute really for The Queen?

ekrubm765 @yahoo.com