Golding rebuffs invitation to meet with Chuck on constitutional reform, insists talks must be with PM

Opposition Leader Mark Golding has rebuffed a proposal from Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to meet with Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck to discuss the next steps in the Opposition's collaboration with the Government on Jamaica's constitutional reform.

He says he was expecting an invitation to meet with Holness himself to discuss the way forward as a first step.

Golding made his feelings clear in a letter to Holness, dated October 3, 2025, which he said was a response to a September 30 letter from Holness. The letter from Holness was not released.

In his letter, Golding pointed to Holness' speech at his swearing in as prime minister in which Holness said "Mark, let us partner together to complete the work we started in making Jamaica a republic".

Golding said he welcomes those words, as they are consistent with the reality that the Government does not now have a two-thirds majority in either House of Parliament, further re-enforcing the imperative of partnership between Jamaica's two major political parties if progress is to be made in reforming the Constitution.

However, he said Holness' proposal that he meet with Chuck "will not initiate the required partnership of which we speak".

"I therefore invite you to reconsider the matter in light of what I am suggesting in this letter, and look forward to hearing from you presently," he stated.

Golding further pointed out that the only route to reaping success in the reform effort is through authentic collaboration, as demonstrated by former political leaders. For example, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in opening the debate on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in 2010, outlined the imperative of partnering in the reform process, while former Prime Minister PJ Patterson wrote to both leaders on December 2, 2021, saying that "the solution to constitutional reform requires unity of purpose and action, transcending partisan borders".

Golding also stated in his letter that, for him, constitutional reform means leaving both the British Monarch as Head of State and the British Monarch's Privy Council as the final court of appeal, and in a manner that Jamaica's Constitution no longer originates from an Order in Council of the British Monarch.

The issue of leaving the Privy Council has been a contentious one between both main political parties, with the Government proposing that the matter not be addressed in the first phase of the reform, while the Opposition insists it must be done in tandem with removing the King of England as Jamaica's head of state.

The Opposition is also in favour of Jamaica joining the Caribbean Court of Justice's appellate jurisdiction, while Holness has said he would prefer a Jamaican final court and for Jamaicans to have the final say on the matter, through a referendum.

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