As Jamaica moves to revamp its constitution ahead of removing Britain’s King Charles III as Head of State and become a republic, one of the changes supported by both Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Mark Golding is that all dual Jamaican citizens, including those from the U.S., should be able to serve in the Jamaican parliament.
Under Section 39 of the current constitution, only citizens of Commonwealth countries can serve as long as they are at least 21 years old and were resident in Jamaica for the twelve months immediately prior to being appointed or nominated. But instead of expanding eligibility, the new recommendations from the Constitutional Reform Committee tabled in parliament on May 21 seem to narrow eligibility even further to Jamaican citizens only.
That could mean that, if they get enacted, even parliamentarians who now have dual Jamaican-Commonwealth citizenships, like Mr. Golding (pic), could be forced to renounce in order to maintain eligibility.
