Support For Jamaica’s Commonwealth Secretary-General Bid

Jamaica is receiving strong support for the candidature of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, for Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with responsibility for Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, made the disclosure during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (April 6).

“We have been engaged in a very positive approach towards this process, and we have gotten tremendous support from across all regions in the Commonwealth and we are very positive about the candidature. We are very confident that when the time comes and the announcement has been made, the results will be positive as well,” he said.

Minister Morgan noted that Senator Johnson Smith is an excellent candidate, who is competent, well-read and has a positive and substantial reputation internationally.

He said that the Government has embraced and pushed forward a very pragmatic foreign policy that seeks to build bridges and form collaborations with States all across the world.

“It is for that reason that so many of them have stepped up and endorsed Senator Kamina Johnson Smith,” he said, adding that “Jamaica has a very positive relationship with every single member of CARICOM”.

Legal and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Marlene Malahoo Forte, said Jamaicans should be proud that the country is able to present a candidate who has the competence to lead the Commonwealth.

“As Jamaicans, let us celebrate Jamaica’s contribution. Regardless of what the outcome will be, the fact that we can field a candidate at this level on whom there is no disagreement about her eminence, qualification and suitability for the position is something [for which] we should all be justly proud,” she said.

The incumbent Secretary-General of the Commonwealth is Baroness Patricia Scotland.