Editorial | Holness for honest-broker role

Despite their virtual meeting on Friday, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders were still unable to settle the contentious reappointment of Carla Barnett as secretary general, in a process which Trinidad and Tobago says was procedurally and legally flawed. Port of Spain insists that it would not acknowledge Dr Barnett’s authority after her current contract expires in mid-August.

While this issue may appear peripheral to Jamaica, it is a potentially existential crisis from which Kingston, in these geopolitically fraught times, cannot be detached. For in the topsy-turvy environment created by Donald Trump’s accelerated dismantling of the post-World War II international order, Jamaica will not thrive on its own, notwithstanding any views to the contrary, or expectations that it can cut bilateral deals to avoid the pressures of hegemons.

As blocs like the European Union (EU), and Canada’s premier Mark Carney, who has been promoting partnerships between his country and other ‘middle powers’ have emphasised, in the face of the turbulence, conglomeration makes sense. Or, as Mr Carney put it in Davos in January, if the middle powers are not at the table together, they will be “on the menu”. It is the same strategic thinking that caused France’s President Emmanuel Macron to meet with African leaders in Kenya this week.

Individually, the small countries that comprise CARICOM, in the context of the power games, would hardly qualify as even morsels - perhaps crumbs. The appreciation of this is what, in part, amplifies the logic of regional integration. Even as a group, the 15-member community remains small, but represents 14 votes at the United Nations and other international fora. In other words, CARICOM transcends its potential for intra-regional trade and investment in a single economic space. Its other great merit lies in the possibilities of its collective voice, which has served it well in the past.

DEEPER PARTNERSHIPS

Current circumstances call not for fragmentation, but insist on a deeper partnership to confront the economic threats from the Middle East war, the climate crisis, and uncertainties about the new global architecture. The region has to ensure that its interests are protected.  

CARICOM cannot afford a paralysing, interminable drift further into the periphery. It has to find a way out of the quagmire in which it has recently found itself, which starts with resolving the Carla Barnett affair.

This is the backdrop against which The Gleaner’s Editorial Board again proposes that Jamaica, through Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, assumes the role of interlocutor between the community and his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in an effort to break the region’s political logjam. We also suggest that Dr Holness be supported in the effort by Montserrat’s chief minister, Reuben Meade.

There are several reasons why the Editorial Board believes these two leaders would be the appropriate ones to engage Ms Persad-Bissessar. But it is important to recall some of the background to the crisis and the Trinidad and Tobago leader’s grouse with the community, which include grievances against Dr Barnett, going back to when Ms Persad-Bissessar was in opposition.

For instance, the prime minister has complained of receiving no response from the secretary general to a 2022 letter querying the detention in Barbados, and return to Port of Spain, of a Trinidad and Tobago businessman, Brent Thomas. Regional analysts have noted that other agencies and officials did not respond to Ms Persad-Bissessar, largely, they argue, because  the issue was not within CARICOM’s purview but a bilateral matter between Trinidad and Tobago  and Barbados.

Ms Persad-Bissessar had earned the ire of some of her counterparts over her uncritical embrace of Donald Trump’s policies in the Caribbean and for her mocking of regional partners who assert contrary positions.

GENUINE POINTS

Some of Ms Persad-Bissessar’s posture may be performative, but there may be genuine points of principle that need to be heard and addressed. She, too, has to hear the community’s complaints. Dr Holness is a good choice to lead on this front.

First, the Jamaican prime minister is a member of CARICOM’s three-member Bureau - the former chairman,  Dr Holness; the current chairman; St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew; and the incoming chairman, St Lucia’s Prime Minister Phillip Pierre) - among whose function is to act as a quasi-executive, undertaking consultation, in  effect, to build consensus in the community.

Moreover, Dr Holness has a decade’s experience of operating in CARICOM and ought to have a full grasp of its nuances. Neither could it be claimed that he is an ideological outlier, when he is likely to share many of Ms Persad-Bissessar’s political perspectives.  Further, Dr Drew and Mr Pierre are ruled out, given the former’s critical role in Dr Barnett’s reappointment and the latter’s probably wish not to become overly entangled in a messy affair ahead of the start of his chairmanship in July.

Mr Meade's long history, over three premierships, in CARICOM affairs, gives him a good perspective on regional affairs. At the same time, while a founding member of CARICOM, Montserrat, as a British overseas territory, does not have to face the geopolitical turbulence as frontally as its regional partners. Addition.  Montserrat was also not in the room for Dr Barnett’s re-election and has called for clarity on the matter.