text: Jamaican lawmakers will debate a constitutional amendment that would replace Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and make the island a republic. 
   
   QuickTake Marijuana Legalization 
   
   The proposal is a “major action item” on the new government’s 2016-2017 legislative agenda, and would replace the Queen with a Non-Executive President, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen said Thursday in a speech to parliament posted on the government’s website. 
   
   Jamaican Labour Party leader Andrew Holness scraped a narrow win in general elections in February as voters opted for promises of tax cuts and a higher minimum wage over the previous government’s austerity program. The legislative agenda also includes a proposal to set fixed election dates and term limits for the Prime Minister, as well as a proposal to fully legalize marijuana for “specified purposes.” 
   
   The measures would need to be passed by Parliament to become law. The government also plans to set up a single anti-corruption body, and reform the tax and pension system, Allen said. 
   
   The Queen is also head of state of other Caribbean nations, including Barbados and the Bahamas. ||||| Governor-General, His Excellency the Most. Hon. Patrick Allen, inspects the guard of honour formed by Members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), at the Ceremonial Opening of the 2016/17 Parliamentary year today (April 14), at Gordon House. + - Photo: Dave Reid Governor-General, His Excellency the Most. Hon. Patrick Allen, inspects the guard of honour formed by Members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), at the Ceremonial Opening of the 2016/17 Parliamentary year today (April 14), at Gordon House. Story Highlights The 2016/17 session of Parliament officially opened today (April 14) at Gordon House with the traditional pomp and pageantry. 
   
   It was highlighted by the delivery of the Throne Speech by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen. 
   
   The official opening of the new parliamentary year also saw supporters of the two major political parties gathered within the precincts of Gordon House to cheer on their representatives. 
   
   
   
   The 2016/17 session of Parliament officially opened today (April 14) at Gordon House with the traditional pomp and pageantry. 
   
   It was highlighted by the delivery of the Throne Speech by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen. 
   
   The official opening of the new parliamentary year also saw supporters of the two major political parties gathered within the precincts of Gordon House to cheer on their representatives. 
   
   The Governor-General, on his arrival, inspected the Guard of Honour mounted by members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), after which he entered the chambers of the House, accompanied by the Commissioner of Police, Dr. Carl Williams, and Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Antony Anderson. 
   
   Permanent Secretaries from the various Ministries and members of the Diplomatic Corps were among the specially invited guests at the ceremony to open the new Parliamentary Year. 
   
   Members of the Senate were the first to take their seats inside Gordon House. 
   
   The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Pearnel Charles, then entered the Chamber, followed by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness; Leader of the Opposition, the Most. Hon. Portia Simpson Miller; and Members of Parliament. 
   
   The Throne Speech, delivered under the theme: ‘Building a Partnership for Prosperity’, outlined the priority programmes and policies to be pursued by the Government during the new fiscal year. 
   
   The Governor-General stated that the Government will continue to drive the growth and job creation agenda through debt management; reform of the tax, pension and financial systems; implementation of a new Special Economic Zones regime; trade facilitation; expansion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise financing and capacity development; labour market reform; land titling initiatives; and undertaking a strategic plan for the outsourcing industry. 
   
   The Government will also pursue an active legislative agenda for the 2016/2017 fiscal year. 
   
   Some of the critical Bills include: the Arbitration Bill, which governs the conduct of domestic and international arbitration in Jamaica; a Constitution (Amendment) Bill to replace Her Majesty the Queen with a Non-Executive President as Head of State; a Constitution (Amendment) Bill to address the judicial review of the Director of Public Prosecutions; and the Criminal Justice (Plea Negotiations and Agreements) (Amendment) Bill – which provides for reduced sentences on guilty pleas. 
   
   There will be further amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act to give full legalisation for marijuana to be used for specified purposes. 
   
   Legislation will also be put in place to create fixed election dates and term limits for the Prime Minister; provide for impeachment proceedings to be brought against corrupt public officials and Parliamentarians; and the Integrity Commission Bill, which will establish a Single Anti-Corruption Body. 
   
   Later in the afternoon the Lower House will have its first official sitting for the new fiscal year, and the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure will be tabled by the Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw. ||||| 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   THE Government has signalled that it intends to make good on its promise to sever colonial ties with Britain by bringing a Constitution amendment bill to Parliament to have the Queen of England Elizabeth ll, replaced with a non-executive president as head of state. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   This would do away with the governor general as the Queen’s representative here, and make Jamaica a republic. A non-executive president, like the governor general, would still be a symbolic leader and perform a representative and civic role but with no powers to make policy. But he or she could use discretionary powers for extraordinary political intervention, based on the Constitution. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, in the 2016/2017 Throne Speech to mark the opening of the new session of Parliament, announced the plan to move to republican status, while outlining a raft of other measures that are now on the legislative agenda. 
   
   
   
   
   
   The new Administration appears set on doing what former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller in her inauguration speech following her party’s victory in the 2011 general election, had proposed to do. Simpson Miller said then that as Jamaica celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence, the Government would "initiate the process for our detachment from the Monarchy to become a republic with our own indigenous president as head of state". 
   
   
   
   
   
   Also on top of the agenda is legislation for fixed election dates (local and general) and term limits for the prime minister. Sir Patrick announced, too, that a National Human Rights Institute (NHRI) is to be set up in law and the Office of the Public Defender "enhanced to incorporate the NHRI". 
   
   
   
   
   
   The Government in 2014 started dialogue with the Commonwealth Secretariat to set up the body in compliance with a set of guiding standards adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993. 
   
   The promised Impeachment Bill is also to be brought to the House. The law will allow for criminal proceedings to be brought against corrupt public officials and parliamentarians. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Among the other pieces of legislation are: the Bill to amend the INDECOM Act; a bill to amend the Constitution to address the judicial review of the director of public prosecutions; and the Criminal Justice Amendment Bill to provide for reduced sentences on guilty pleas. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Additionally, the Governor General said the Government has proposed that the Dangerous Drugs Act is to be further amended to "give full legislation" for marijuana to be used for specified purposes. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Lawmakers are also expected to carry through other pieces of legislation that are already in train. These include the Integrity Commission Bill; the Arbitration Bill; and the Judicature (Resident Magistrate) (Amendment) Bill; the Law Reform (Notice of Alibi) Bill, which stalled in the House years ago when members of parliament protested the provisions; and the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) (Amendment) Bill to allow for the introduction of evidence by closed circuit television link and video-recorded evidence. Changes are also slated for the Trafficking in Persons Bill to give the court powers to prosecute offences under the Act without a jury, while legislation to govern judicial accountability for performance and behaviour in office, is also expected to feature during the year.
target: – Jamaican lawmakers have apparently had a lot on their minds lately, as per the government's just-released 2016-2017 legislative agenda, with proposals including amending the country's constitution to dump Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state and make Jamaica a republic, scheduling fixed election dates, ensuring term limits for the PM, revamping the tax and pension setup—and (in what may be of most interest to those stateside) making marijuana legal for "specified purposes," Bloomberg reports. Whew! These measures and others, announced in a speech to Parliament by Governor-General Patrick Allen on the government website, would need to get Parliament's OK before becoming the law of the land. As the Jamaica Observer explains, making the nation a republic would involve putting in place a non-executive president, who would be more of a figurehead and wouldn't play a policymaking role. But "he or she could use discretionary powers for extraordinary political intervention, based on the Constitution." As for the pot proposal, no word on what exactly those "specified purposes" would entail. (A Bob Marley-inspired novel won the Booker Prize for Fiction.)