Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller expressed her intention to make Jamaica a republic to coincide with the country's 50th anniversary of independence in August 2012, but did not follow through with the proposed change which would require the support of two-thirds of both houses in the Parliament of Jamaica to pass; Simpson-Miller's People's National Party had a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives but was one seat short in the Senate and would have needed the support of at least one senator from the opposition Jamaica Labour Party in order to have the constitutional reform approved. The current leader of the JLP, Andrew Holness, who succeeded Simpson-Miller as prime minister in 2016, has announced that his government will amend the Constitution to make Jamaica a republic. Specifically, the government has pledged to introduce a constitutional amendment to "replace Her Majesty The Queen with a non-executive president as head of state".