the government ’s representative here , and make the island a republic . patrick allen , inspects the guard of honour formed by members of the jamaica defence force ( jdf ) , at the ceremonial opening of the 201617 parliamentary year today ( april 14 ) , at gordon house . the 201617 session of parliament officially opened today ( april 14 ) at gordon house with the traditional pomp 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 . story highlights the 201617 session of parliament officially opened today ( april 14 ) at gordon house with the traditional pomp and pageantry . 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 . patrick allen , inspects the guard of honour formed by members of the jamaica defence force ( jdf ) , at the ceremonial opening of the 201617 parliamentary year today ( april 14 ) , at gordon house . governor general sir patrick allen , in the 20162017 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 measures would need to be passed by parliament to become law . the queen is also governor - general , his excellency the most .