Member of Parliament for North East St Catherine Kerensia Morrison is accusing the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) of putting politics before the country, following its decision not to sign off on a report submitted by the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC), the first phase in Jamaica’s transition to republic status.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding last week instructed the two PNP representatives on the CRC, Senator Donna Scott Mottley and Anthony Hylton, not to sign off on the report until the concerns he raised about the need for Jamaica to separate from the Privy Council are addressed by the government.

However, Morrison, in a statement on Thursday (May 16), said the move taken by the opposition is destroying the hopes and aspirations of many Jamaicans who were looking forward to Jamaica becoming a republic.’

“I speak on behalf of many Jamaicans, like myself, who had expectations that, having gone through an intensive process of constitutional consultations and reviews, that Jamaica was on a good footing to finally become a republic in our lifetime,” she said.

“The opposition has shamefully put politics before country and, at the last moment flip-flopped on supporting the process in which they participated and previously agreed.”

The Jamaica Labour Party-aligned (JLP) Morrison described the concerns being raised by the opposition leader as an excuse for the PNP to withdraw from the process because they are not in government to preside over the milestone event in Jamaica.