KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Spokesperson on Youth and Human Rights Isat Buchanan has reaffirmed the Opposition’s support for Jamaica becoming a republic while insisting that true constitutional reform must include full judicial independence and meaningful national consensus.

Buchanan, making his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, argued that Jamaica should not pursue what he described as a “half-finished decolonisation” by removing the British monarch as head of state while retaining the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the nation’s final court.

“The Opposition supports Jamaica becoming a republic. We support replacing the British monarch with a Jamaican head of state. But we believe the time has come for full decolonisation,” Buchanan said.