Jamaica vows to drop Queen as head of state However, she pointedly switched to Jamaican patois as she told the crowd of 10,000: "But I think the time has come." Plans for the switch to a republican government are aimed to coincide with this year's 50th anniversary of Jamaica's independence from Britain in 1962. The Queen remains the head of state and is represented on the island by the governor general, Sir Patrick Allen. "This 50th anniversary year will be a time for reflection on the lessons of the past; and as we celebrate our achievements as an independent nation, we now need to complete the circle of Independence," Mrs Simpson Miller said. Proposals to replace the Queen with an elected president were first mooted in 2003 by former prime minister PJ Patterson and have broad support across the political spectrum. Mrs Simpson Miller's centre-Left People's National Party won a landslide victory over the governing Labour Party in last week's parliamentary elections, standing on a that included abandoning the monarchy. A government spokesman told the Daily Telegraph that the constitutional changes could be made through parliament without a referendum, but that the new government seek to an agreement with the opposition before moving ahead. He said a deal was likely to be reached in time for Jamaica's independence celebrations in August. However, the plans could be delayed by Mrs Simpson Miller's more controversial proposal to replace the Queen's Privy Council with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice as Jamaica's last court of appeal. The new prime minister said the reform was necessary to "end judicial surveillance from London" but human rights groups have protested the move. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The issue of the Jamaican head of state is entirely a matter for the Jamaican government and people."