By Staff Writer
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Apr 8, CMC – President Irfaan Ali, Wednesday, defended the procedure used to re-appoint Belizean economist Dr. Carla Barnett for another five-year term as Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, saying, “I was involved in the discussions as all other heads on the reappointment of the Secretary General.
“We support the reappointment of the Secretary General. That’s the first thing, so I hope that brings clarity,” Ali told reporters.
Trinidad and Tobago is calling for a meeting of CARICOM to address the re-appointment of Barnett, insisting that it was “deliberately uninvited” to the meeting where the agreement was reached in St. Kitts and Nevis in February.
CARICOM and Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers said that Port of Spain would seek a meeting of CARICOM to challenge the reappointment and that fresh elections could also be put on the table.
Trinidad and Tobago has said that three letters sent to the relevant personnel on the issue have all been ignored, with Sobers saying “ no acknowledgement and no response is very, very troubling”.
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar has already condemned the “surreptitious and odious process” used regarding the reappointment of Barnett, saying it could have long-term effects for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
In a statement posted on her Facebook page, Persad-Bissessar said that she was again calling on the 15-member regional integration grouping “for transparency on the surreptitious and odious process used to reappoint” the Belizean-born economist for another five-year term.
“Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to CARICOM, but until this matter is transparently resolved, the organization and its secretariat should absolutely expect no quarter from my Government.”
But Ali told reporters that he wanted to be “fully transparent on this matter” and that he was present “when the Secretary General was appointed the first time, and we did not follow any process that is different from the first time.
“You know, when you go to CARICOM heads of government meeting, there is, of course, the general meeting, the plenary, and then there’s the caucus, and this matter was discussed in caucus, and the views were exchanged, and the decision was taken.
“So, I mean, every leader has their right to, that’s part of what democracy is, to have their opinion on a system. But I must say that for the time I’m at CARICOM, we did not follow any different process, and we were, and Guyana was part of the decision.”
Asked by reporters whether he was satisfied with Dr. Burnett’s performance, Ali replied: “That is why we were part of the decision”.
Late last month, in a brief statement, the CARICOM chairman and St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr Terrance Drew, said that Barnett had attained the “required majority” from among regional leaders regarding her re-appointment at last month’s CARICOM summit held in Basseterre.
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar, who left the Basseterre summit before the retreat of regional leaders on Nevis, said on March 25, Sobers wrote to Prime Minister Drew, “formally placing on record Trinidad and Tobago’s objection to the re-appointment of Dr. Carla Barnett as Secretary-General of CARICOM.
“Our concern is straightforward: the proposed re-appointment was not included on the provisional agenda for the Fiftieth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in St. Kitts and Nevis, was not considered during plenary, and was reportedly addressed only during the Heads of Government Retreat…from which Trinidad and Tobago and other Member States were excluded through their authorised representatives.
Barnett became the eighth CARICOM Secretary General on August 15, 2021, by “unanimous appointment” of the regional leaders.
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