CARICOM memmber states have failed to reach an agreement on who they should nominate for secretary general of the Commonwealth.
A brief statement from CARICOM chairman John Briceno on Tuesday said instead member states will vote for their candidate of choice when the 54-member grouping meets in Rwanda in June.
“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 statement said. “The Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community maintains that it is the turn of the Caribbean to provide a candidate for the position. In that regard, two candidates from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been nominated for the post, the incumbent Baroness Patricia Scotland and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith. Member States of the Community will vote for the candidate of their choice.”
Jamaica sent shockwaves through the region when it announced that Johnson Smith, would challenge the incumbent Scotland, who was born in Dominica, for the top executive post.
Prime Minister of Antigua Gaston Browne described Jamaica’s move and a ‘monumental error’ that would divide the region but both candidates insisted that they would be staying in the race.
CARICOM heads said the two would meet, but there are no indications this ever happened.
