Johnson Smith rejects Patterson's criticisms: 'No parliamentary instructions defied'

Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamina Johnson Smith has rejected an assertion by former Prime Minister P J Patterson that the government flouted the authority of Parliament when Jamaica abstained from voting at the United Nations (UN) to lift the United States (US) embargo against Cuba.

Johnson Smith also insisted, in a statement on Sunday, that the Cuban people deserve more than “an annual repeated expression of solidarity that has not achieved its central objective”.

“For more than three decades, the [UN] General Assembly has called for an end to the embargo, yet it remains in place and the circumstances facing the Cuban people have deteriorated,” she said.

“Surely, it is reasonable to consider whether a broader approach might better serve the objective I presume we all share – an improvement in the lives of the Cuban people.”

Patterson, like critics locally and across the region, slammed the government’s decision to abstain from voting to end the 66-year-old economic, commercial and financial embargo, describing it as an “abominable betrayal” that stains Jamaica’s record of standing up against oppression.

Noting that the Jamaican Parliament unanimously passed a resolution against the unilateral blockade, the former prime minister went further with his criticisms, asserting that the Government’s decision to reverse its position undermined the legislature and represented a “deplorable flouting of Parliament’s constitutional authority.

“This is no mere discourtesy. It was an act of deception and a grave parliamentary offence,” Patterson argued in a statement on the weekend.

“In any Parliament modelled on Westminster, what took place between Tuesday and Wednesday would have resulted in censure and ministerial resignations. The Parliament of Jamaica is entitled to no less. It was an abominable betrayal which history will never forget.

But Johnson pushed back at the “extraordinary” assertion, insisting that the motion that was brought before the Parliament expressed concern for the Cuban people and supported constructive engagement, reduced economic restrictions and Cuba’s integration into the international economic system.

“Critically, the motion did not direct the government to vote in favour of the UN resolution, nor did it purport to bind the [political] executive to a particular voting position,” she argued.

The Jamaican foreign minister said in any event, Parliament’s important responsibility to debate policy and hold ministers accountable must not be confused with the executive’s constitutional responsibility to conduct policy, which must include foreign relations.

“Certainly, it could not be suggested that the Parliament or the executive could be bound by the fact that Opposition parliamentarians called for an end to the blockade in their contributions to the debate,” she said.

“There was, therefore, no parliamentary instructions defied and no credible basis for the extraordinary allegation of a parliamentary offence.”

Johnson Smith said Cuba’s valuable contribution to Jamaica, particularly in healthcare and education, “will always be deeply appreciated”, but insisted that Jamaica has not changed its opposition to the embargo.

“What has changed is our assessment of whether continued support for an annual resolution addressing only one dimension of Cuba’s circumstances represents the most constructive approach,” she explained.

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