Bahama Times

Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Commonwealth rift in Caribbean as re-election of Lady Scotland challenged

Commonwealth rift in Caribbean as re-election of Lady Scotland challenged

Jamaican minister’s entry to race for secretary general called ‘monumental error’ by Antigua
Patricia Scotland’s hopes of being re-elected Commonwealth secretary general are under threat, after Jamaica’s foreign minister, Kamina Johnson-Smith, announced that she was challenging Scotland for the post.

The decision has sparked controversy in the Caribbean, which had previously met to back Scotland’s bid for a second term. The Antiguan prime minister, Gaston Browne, has described Jamaica’s decision to break ranks as a “monumental error”.

“Jamaica was party to a recent Caribbean Community (Caricom) consensus endorsing the re-election of Baroness Scotland,” he said.

“I think Jamaica’s proposed candidature for Commonwealth secretary general is a monumental error, which could only serve to divide the Caribbean.”

He said the Dominican-born Scotland was being hounded out of office by a group that “have now skilfully engineered a plan to divide Caricom and to stain the performance of the region”.

He said that Jamaica’s tactics might only serve “as a gateway for a non-Caricom secretary general to succeed”.

In a bid to heal the rift, it has now been agreed that a Caricom sub-group will interview the two candidates in a bid to reach a consensus, according to St Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves. The sub-group consists of the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jamaica.

It has been the convention that a secretary general is not contested if he or she seeks a second four-year term.

The 15-member Caricom had given overwhelming support for Scotland when they met in Belize in March, but that phrasing may have disguised the objections of a minority. Either way, the Jamaican decision on 1 April to announce Johnson-Smith’s candidacy caught most observers by surprise.

One former Jamaican foreign minister, Delano Franklyn, noted his country’s surprise move came after the visit to Jamaica by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, and that visit may have been used as a backchannel to lobby the Jamaican government.

He said: “As chairman of the Commonwealth, prime minister Boris Johnson is doing everything to ensure that he has a secretary general of the Commonwealth who will fall in line with the thinking of British conservative politics.”

The UK, however, insists it is staying neutral, but supporters of Scotland believe Foreign Office officials have been manoeuvring for years to remove her on the basis it believed she has awarded contracts improperly and proved a poor administrator.

A previous potential challenger, Monica Juma, the Kenyan energy minister and a former diplomat, had announced in August 2021 that she was to stand against Scotland, received Britain’s endorsement and started campaigning. However, she then mysteriously pulled out, leaving Scotland’s opponents without a challenger.

Juma had been endorsed for the top job by President Uhuru Kenyatta last year, who called her “an exemplar of what we in the Commonwealth hold”. The 19 African members of the Commonwealth had only recently, through the African Union, endorsed Juma’s bid, but she clearly could not gain traction in the Caribbean.

In a brochure she released in September, Juma said she wanted to change the perception of the Commonwealth as an organisation of the past. It appears Juma was not receiving sufficient support across the 54-member Commonwealth and it was agreed that she stand down to find a candidate more likely to defeat Scotland.

The Commonwealth summit is supposed to reach a decision by consensus and the royal family will not want an unedifying row at what may be one of the Queen’s last summits. Judging by her recent public appearances, she is unlikely to attend in person.

Jamaica’s decision to put up a candidate has its ironies since the country had previously hinted that it was considering quitting the Commonwealth or removing the Queen as head of state. However, its prime minister, Andrew Holness, in announcing Johnson-Smith’s candidacy, praised her qualifications for the post of secretary general, including her high moral character, diplomatic and political acumen, proven competence and commitment to the work of the Commonwealth.

“She will bring a wealth of experience to the position and is committed to international public service,” he said.

Johnson-Smith, foreign minister since 2020 and a former barrister, said on Twitter: “It would be an absolute privilege to serve this great family of nations.”

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda was due in Jamaica this week, where the post of secretary general is bound to be discussed. The delayed Commonwealth heads of government meeting was initially due to be held in 2020, but that has twice been postponed due to Covid, meaning Scotland’s term has already been extended.

Scotland, a former Labour frontbench politician and member of the House of Lords, has been dogged by stories in the UK accusing her of a misuse of funds, including an internal auditor’s report that suggested normal procedures had not been followed in the award of a management consultancy contract to a fellow Labour peer. She has always denied any wrongdoing.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×