A CARICOM sub-committee of select countries will meet with Baroness Patricia Scotland and Kamina Johnson Smith as the regional group grapple over who they will nominate for General Secretary of the Commonwealth.
This after a virtual meeting among CARICOM leaders ended on Wednesday without any clear position on who they will support for the top post.
The sub-committee will consist of Heads of Government of The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica, a statement from the group reads.
The meeting was held after Jamaica, in a surprise announcement, said it was nominating Johnson Smith, its Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, for the post, which is currently occupied by Scotland, a CARICOM nominee.
Jamaica has insisted that it will not withdraw its nomination with Prime Minister Andrew Holness saying that it was an “alternative in response to persisting issues”.
Scotland’s tenure has been mired in controversy over her governance of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The move by Jamaica has been criticized by Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, who said it was a “monumental error” that could divide the region.
CARICOM did not specify a date for the meeting but its statement described the two candidates as “eminently qualified.”
The 54-member Commonwealth group will elect a new General Secretary when it meets in Kigali, Rwanda in June.
