Why Jamaica is pushing Kamina

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says that it is not Jamaica's intention to create division among CARICOM states, arguing that the country's decision to name Kamina Johnson Smith as a candidate for the post of Commonwealth secretary general should not be positioned as controversial.

Today the prime minister will engage his CARICOM partners as the regional bloc discusses the challenge to the incumbent, Baroness Patricia Scotland, in June.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne had described Johnson Smith's decision to run for the post as a “monumental error”, hinting that Jamaica was a stalking horse for critics of Scotland who sought “to divide and rule”.

But in a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Holness said that Jamaica would conduct a dignified campaign and not inflame “what we have already seen emerging”.

“If there are disagreements and concerns by our brothers and sisters in CARICOM, Jamaica will not engage in any other means of addressing those other than through the established protocols of the meeting of heads,” he told lawmakers.

While acknowledging that Johnson Smith was qualified and had the requisite experience to take up the job of Commonwealth secretary general, Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding said the manner in which Jamaica announced her candidature was “very messy” and created an “undesirable situation”.

He said that since the announcement, two CARICOM prime ministers have publicly stated that at the recent meeting of the 15-member group in Belize in March, the heads of government expressed overwhelming support for the re-election of Scotland.

Golding said that the decision was recorded in the summary of conclusions of the meeting published by the CARICOM Secretariat.

He argued that Jamaica's interest would be best served by promoting solidarity and forging united support of Commonwealth CARICOM states.

Golding posed several questions to the prime minister, seeking specifics on the timeline of Jamaica's bid and whether that interest was broached at the Belize meeting.

He also quizzed Holness on whether Jamaica's candidate would enjoy unanimous support from the other CARICOM countries.

Responding, Holness explained that there was a discussion about support for Scotland at the Heads of Government Meeting in March.

Holness said that the consideration at the time was that there was no other candidate and “our support would remain” for the incumbent.

Kenya's Dr Monica Juma had emerged as a contender but withdrew before the CARICOM summit.

PERSISTENT ISSUES

However, Holness said that since that time, there has been “a strong and persistent perspective that alternative candidates should enter because obviously issues and concerns did not go away”.

“In examining the landscape, Jamaica took a sovereign decision,” said Holness, adding that Johnson Smith's candidature would unite the Commonwealth.

Those “issues and concerns” likely refer to allegations that the secretary general had circumvented the customary competitive tendering requirement by awarding a lucrative consultancy contract to a friend's company.

It was also revealed that procurement rules had been waived in more than 50 instances by the secretariat over three years, resulting in the suspension of discretionary funding from the British, New Zealand, and Australian governments until it got its financial procedures in order.

Holness' confidence was buttressed on Tuesday by a CARICOM leader who confirmed that support for Johnson Smith was strong among the regional bloc. The leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the division, said that it was felt that Johnson Smith was the right candidate to unite both the Commonwealth states and CARICOM.

In his statement to Parliament, the prime minister also made it clear that there was no nexus between Johnson Smith's candidature and the country's intention to move towards republic status.

He said membership in the Commonwealth was not dependent on the Queen being the head of state of a country.

Holness divulged that he had, in 2019, invited Rwanda's President Paul Kagame to visit Jamaica in April 2020. He said the coronavirus pandemic delayed the plan and subsequently a new date was set for him to visit the country next Wednesday.

Kagame is set to become interim chairman of the Commonwealth and his country will host the meeting at which the secretary generalship vote will be undertaken. Jamaica, Holness said, would not seek to compromise Kagame's neutrality, adding that Johnson Smith's candidature would not be on the agenda of the imminent bilateral talks.

“There is absolutely no correlation between Minister Johnson Smith's candidacy and the state visit of President Kagame,” said Holness.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com