Guyana will continue to support Baroness Patricia Scotland for the post of Commonwealth Secretary General, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud yesterday announced.
“We have not shifted in our support for Baroness Scotland,” Persaud told Stabroek News on the sidelines of yesterday’s Agri-Investment Expo.
CARICOM has been divided on a nominee for the region with CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of Belize, John Antonio Briceño announcing on Wednesday that each country will choose their own nominee.
This was after an apparent failure at a consensus on one of the two regional candidates: the incumbent Baroness Scotland and the nominee of Jamaica, its Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith.
Following a surprise move and a shift from its earlier position to support Scotland, Jamaica last month nominated its Foreign Minister.
A sub-committee of CARICOM Heads was formed to thrash out the issue and arrive at one nominee but the division continued leading to the Chairman’s statement.
“An election for the post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth will take place during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which takes place 20-25 June 2022, in Kigali, Rwanda. The Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community maintains that it is still the turn of the Caribbean to provide a candidate for the position,” Briceño said in a statement.
“In that regard, two candidates from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been nominated for the post, the incumbent Baroness Patricia Scotland and Senator the Honorable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica. Member States of the Community will vote for the candidate of their choice,” he added.
The United Kingdom announced yesterday that Johnson Smith has its support.
“With a month to go until the Commonwealth comes together in Rwanda, delighted to confirm the UK will support @kaminajsmith’s campaign to be the next Secretary General. She has the vast experience & support to unite our unique family of nations and seize the opportunities ahead,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted on Twitter.
