INDIA NOD FOR KAMINA

Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith seemingly has the backing of India in her bid to topple Baroness Patricia Scotland as Commonwealth secretary general, with Indian High Commissioner Masakui Rungsung calling her a “strong and fitful” candidate.

But even as that endorsement came on Wednesday, regional heads of government struggled to come to a consensus on the Caribbean's representative for the post, announcing a second meeting to discuss the diplomatic friction.

Minister without Portfolio Robert Morgan declared that Kingston would not walk back its decision to field a candidate, arguing that the sovereign state was within its right to move forward with “what is in the interest of Jamaica”.

“Many states, both in the region and outside of the region, have come on board with the candidature of Kamina Johnson Smith. What that says to you is that Jamaica's decision was sensible ... . As it relates to whether Kamina will withdraw, emphatically no,” Morgan said during a Jamaica House press conference early Wednesday

That position was strengthened by Rungsung, who told The Gleaner that India, which accounts for more than half of the 2.4 billion people living within the 54-member Commonwealth, “welcomes” Jamaica's candidacy.

He said India is confident that Johnson Smith possesses the capabilities to address transparency issues plaguing the Commonwealth Secretariat, which has resulted in the suspension of discretionary funding from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia.

The funding support was pulled for several secretariat programmes amid allegations that Scotland had circumvented the usual competitive tendering rules by awarding a lucrative consultancy contract to a company headed by a friend.

It was also revealed that procurement rules had been waived in no fewer than 50 instances by the secretariat over three years.

The three governments said that they will continue to withhold support until the Commonwealth Secretariat gets its financial procedures in order.

The blowback to Scotland's stewardship is reportedly hurting the programmes managed by the Commonwealth Secretariat and has made it difficult for small states in need of its support.

Rungsung said that his Government is confident that Johnson Smith has the qualities to uphold the Commonwealth's core values of transparency, inclusiveness, and consensus.

“We are happy and welcome her candidature. We seriously think that she has that leadership quality in terms of her experience, in terms of her personal commitment to all these values.

“This is an election and we will be supporting the candidate who carries these values ... The person who gives deference and who puts a lot of emphasis on inclusiveness and conducting the business in a transparent manner,” he said, adding that these are the instruments needed to “run the organisation smoothly and take the organisation to a next level”.

But India's confidence in Johnson Smith's abilities has not been mirrored regionally, with support in the 15-member CARICOM bloc split between Jamaica's foreign minister and the Dominica-born Scotland. Twelve CARICOM states have Commonwealth votes.

In a statement released late Wednesday, CARICOM said that it had set up a subcommittee of heads of government comprising The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jamaica, to meet with the two candidates.

Antigua and Barbuda's prime minister had called Jamaica's decision to field a candidate “a monumental error”, suggesting that the Holness administration had made an about-turn on initial support for Scotland.

Holness told Parliament that “issues” were factors that spurred Johnson Smith's challenge for the position but did not state whether those “concerns” were related to Scotland's stewardship, contract allegations, or funding withdrawals.

“The Government is not going to feed into any conversations related to the tenure of the incumbent. That is a matter that the incumbent will have to address on her own,” Morgan said when pressed for clarity.

In addressing the controversy surrounding Jamaica's decision, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Minister Marlene Malahoo Forte said that the time has come to put Jamaica and Jamaicans first.

“This is not to say we cannot be a part of a region. We don't have a CARICOM Parliament. Unlike the EU that has a European Parliament, it's a little different community arrangement we have here,” the former attorney general said.

“So let's not get into the trap of pitting CARICOM against Jamaica, because at the end of the day, everyone gets to government domestically through democratically held elections,” she said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com