“I don’t like to chat!”
That’s the declaration from incumbent Commonwealth Secretary General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, as she prepares to fend off a challenge from Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Kamina Johnson Smith.
Baroness Scotland will go head to head with Johnson Smith for the Commonwealth’s top job in Kigali, Rwanda next month.
But as momentum is building for her challenger, the Baroness says she’s focused on action.
Ricardo Brooks reports.
A tough talking Baroness Scotland told ABS News in Antigua that she’s unfazed by Jamaica’s challenge to her leadership.
According to the Dominican-born British peer, the election will be decided in private when Commonwealth Heads meet, and not by chatter in the public domain.
Jamaica’s foreign minister will seek to unseat Scotland when Commonwealth Heads meet in the Rwandan capital next month.
Johnson Smith has so far received the public endorsement of India, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the Maldives, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago.
Scotland so far has the public support of Antigua and Dominica.
CARICOM failed to reach consensus on a single candidate, resulting in the region offering both Johnson Smith and Scotland for the job.
The Baroness says CARICOM does not need a division at this time.
The UK and other countries have raised concerns regarding Scotland’s stewardship of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
She’s denied any impropriety.
She again touted what she says is a record of performance.
