PORT ANTONIO, Portland — Two months after staunchly defending the Government’s preference for a ceremonial president when Jamaica becomes a republic, co-chairman of the constitutional reform committee (CRC) Marlene Malahoo Forte has indicated that the Andrew Holness-led Administration may likely not have its wish.

The thinking now, she said, is for a president whose duties have been customised for the country’s unique needs.

“At this stage we’re leaning towards a hybrid presidency. Not a ceremonial president, a president that will exercise a set of powers — some ceremonial, some executive. We are tailor-making something for the Jamaican people,” she told a town hall meeting in Portland on Wednesday evening.

Malahoo Forte is also minister of legal and constitutional affairs.

The Opposition People’s National Party has also in the past expressed a preference for a ceremonial president once Jamaica is a republic.

There has been significant interest in the post, with speculation ranging from the powers the office will have to who will fill the position. At the inaugural town hall meeting in Montego Bay in April, Malahoo Forte had indicated that thought was being given to making the presidency a seven-year term, thereby elevating it from the political fray of the five-year general election cycle.

As she pointed out during the discussions on Wednesday, curiosity remains high.

“When we say goodbye to the King and we are establishing the republic, a number of questions will have to be answered. What kind of president? How long will the president serve for? What should qualify you to become president?” the minister noted.

During the same April 17 Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange where Malahoo Forte expressed the Government’s preference, CRC member Hugh Small had commented on just how touchy the issue could be.

“If we are determined that we want to have a Jamaican head of State and become a republic, we have to go to a model that is not going to divide the people. There is no chance of a snowball in hell that we’re going to get approval by the Jamaican people for the creation of an executive president, and if we try to do that it means that we would have to revamp the whole constitution,” he argued then.

Malahoo Forte did not indicate, during Wednesday’s meeting, what had led to the CRC’s current thinking on the issue.

The discussion in Portland was the latest in a series of meetings aimed at providing information to citizens and getting their feedback on changes that will be made to the constitution to facilitate Jamaica becoming a republic.

During the event, participants sought clarity on the process through which the president would be elected.

“That is the million-dollar question that we’re hearing from the people. We’re hearing the views of Jamaicans on that,” Malahoo Forte responded.

She reminded her audience that reformation of the constitution will be done in phases and that the input of Jamaicans is crucial to the process. In addition to the abolition of the constitutional monarchy and the establishment of the office of the president, the first phase will also address extension of the life of Parliament and qualification to sit in the Parliament. Phase two will deal with the issues of rights, among other concerns.

On Wednesday Malahoo Forte stressed, however, that aspects of the constitution that have served the Jamaican people well will be kept.