.png)
Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland has urged Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith to reconsider her bid for the post.
Baroness Scotland said she would be "incredibly pleased" if Mrs Johnson Smith reassessed the situation and acknowledged that "this wasn't the appropriate time to challenge a fellow Commonwealth Caribbean for this post".
"You'll know that I've done six years of my eight-year term. Africa anticipates that they will have an opportunity to put forward an African Secretary-General in 2024 when I complete my second term, and at the moment of course, in accordance with tradition, there is no vacancy," she said in an interview with ABS TV in Antigua.
Baroness Scotland is seeking a another term and the CARICOM bloc had thrown its support behind her following the March Inter-sessional summit held in Belize.
But in a surprise move on April 1, Jamaica announced the candidature of Senator Johnson Smith for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General.
Antigua & Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne immediately reacted, describing Mrs Johnson Smith's candidature as a monumental error which would only serve to divide the Caribbean.
CARICOM leaders, who remain divided regarding their support for the two candidates, have appointed a sub-committee to delve further into the matter.
A decision on the appointment of a Secretary-General is to be made during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting which will take place from June 20 to 25 in Kigali, Rwanda.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
