King Charles says hello, they say goodbye
Rather than having Charles III as king, Belize and Jamaica want to become republics. Leaders of these two Commonwealth countries, of which Charles III is the sovereign, expressed their desire to become republics, in interviews published two days before the coronation of the monarch.
The timing owes nothing to chance. Two days before the coronation of Charles III, leaders of Jamaica and Belize said they intended to become republics, in interviews published in the press. Both countries belong to the Commonwealth, of which Charles III is king.
” The time has come. Jamaica in Jamaican hands,” Jamaican Minister for Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte told Sky News. She said Kingston is considering holding a referendum on the issue as soon as next year. “Many Jamaicans had a warm affection for Queen Elizabeth II,” said Marlene Malahoo Forte, recalling that the monarch was already on the throne when Jamaica became independent in 1962. “But they do not identify with the king. Charles. He is a total stranger to us,” she added.
Slavery Days
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, the Prime Minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, affirmed that it was “highly probable” that his country would be the next country to become a republic, castigating in particular the attitude of London towards -à-vis its slavery past. Belize’s prime minister is strongly critical of his British counterpart Rishi Sunak’s refusal to apologize for the UK’s role in the triangular trade. His government passed a law last year aimed at creating a constitutional commission which must study several avenues of reform by next year, including the transformation of the country into a republic.
Marlene Malahoo Forte also highlights the slavery past, stressing that becoming a republic meant “saying goodbye to a form of government that is linked to a painful past of colonization and slave trade”.
The royal family has never formally issued an apology. Charles has limited himself to calling slavery a “terrible atrocity”, while William expressed his “deep sadness”. Questioned last week in Parliament, Rishi Sunak, of Indian origin, indicated that he would not apologize on behalf of the United Kingdom. “I think we should focus, of course, on understanding our history in all its components, and not deviating from it, but making sure that today we have an inclusive and tolerant society for people from all backgrounds. “said Rishi Sunak, keeping himself well out of the constitutional spat
These two declarations from Jamaica and Belize is bad timing for Charles III – king of the two countries as of 13 other kingdoms around the world – two days before his coronation with great pomp and ceremony in London.
Republican tendencies are increasingly strong in certain Commonwealth realms, some of which want to follow the example of Barbados, which became a republic in 2021. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda had also announced its intention to organize a referendum on the subject “in the next three years”.
There is also increased bitterness from the past, not only for slavery but also for how the former colonies were left impoverished when the money was taken out of the country in independence, giving rise to unemployment. As one Jamaican activist said: ‘You didn’t free us, you fired us.’
Another Caribbean commentator suggested that Britain itself had become a banana republic ‘without the bananas’.