BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas said his government would not contest the position for CARICOM’s General-Secretary when it becomes vacant at year end.
“We have no intentions as a government to contest the post of Secretary-General when it becomes vacant,” Dr. Douglas said when asked the question by SKNVibes.
While admitting that he is aware of the persons who would be contesting the post, Dr. Douglas said he was not approached by anyone or asked to support anyone.
“No one has approached or requested that we give support to any of the candidates. While I am aware of the names thus far, we have not been told on the criteria that will be used in determining the winner,” he explained.
The post will become vacant on December 31, 2010, as the current Secretary-General, His Excellency Dr. Edwin Carrington, will demit office this month after serving for 18 years.
However, already there are three candidates from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) who will be contesting the race which has seen two additional candidates from the wider Caribbean. The three OECS nominees are CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary-General for Regional Trade and Economic Integration, Irwin La Rocque of Dominica; St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Ambassador to Caricom, Elsworth John; and Ambassador Edwin Laurent, a former diplomatic representative of the OECS.
It was observed that with already three of the five candidates originating from the OECS, it is unclear whether the seven full members would vote collectively for one candidate from the sub-region and lobby non-OECS members for support.
The other candidate contesting the race is former CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett of Belize. The Caribbean community, which is made up of 15 members, was expected to cast their votes sometime next year to determine Dr. Carrington’s successor.
According to reports coming out of Guyana, the latest addition in the race is Suriname’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations 40-year-old Henry Mac Donald, who is a human rights lawyer.
Media reports quoted a CARICO official as saying that the nominees are being submitted to Barbados’ Foreign Minister Maxine Mc Lean, who is heading a search-committee. It was further reported that the deadline and criteria for selecting and appointing the new Secretary-General are not widely known.
It is believed that Trinidad and Tobago is unlikely to field a nominee because of the fact that the current Secretary-General hails from that twin-island Republic.
Apart from Grenada’s Sir Alister Mc Intyre, who held the position from 1974 to 1977, no national of the OECS member countries has served as CARICOM’s Secretary-General.
