Skerrit criticized as pressure mounts for Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, to resign
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has been harshly criticised by some critics who say he was the main Caribbean leader pushing for the appointment of Commonwealth Secretary-General, Dominica-born Baroness Scotland, as a campaign to replace her threatens to descend into a race row.
Scotland has been under pressure to resign, with the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, suspending Britain’s £4.7million annual grant to the Commonwealth Secretariat after claims of incompetence and cronyism were made against Baron.
Former Attorney General, Bernard Wiltshire, who appeared as a guest on OBSERVER Media’s Big Issues program in Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday, is blaming Skerrit for what he said is the embarrassment that Scotland has brought to the commonwealth.
“The whole thing was a corrupt practice from the start. The prime minister of Dominica was used to steal from the Caribbean and have Scotland appointed…” he said.
According to Wiltshire, it is clear that Scotland wasn’t ready for that position. “She put herself in that position in helping to deprive the Caribbean of its turn…the rest of the Caribbean governments agreed that Ron Sanders was a better candidate…” he recalled.
He said from all indications, Scotland has no real interest in the Caribbean and claimed that “Skerrit never cared about the solidarity of the region …”
Meantime, Economist Thompson Fountain, who was also a guest on OBSERVER Media’s Big Issues program said Scotland’s appointment was unfair. “It appears she was bulldozed into the position…I believe her tenure is not one we can be proud of,” he said.
Fountain said further that Scotland brought all this on herself. “I think her tenure has been reflecting poorly on Dominica. I have been following her and I am amazed at the number of scandals she has been involved in,” he said.
Scotland has not been popular among all Caribbean leaders and in 2016, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, accused her of bringing shame to the Caribbean after she approved the spending of over $1Million Dollars for the makeover of her grace-and-favour-Mayfair flat.
All this comes as Scotland is lobbying African and Caribbean countries to back her remaining as Commonwealth secretary-general Lady Scotland, 64, is said to have accused Britain, Australia and New Zealand of a racially motivated campaign against her after the countries withdrew discretionary funding from the Commonwealth Secretariat in response to an audit that exposed governance failings under her leadership.
The matter will be addressed when 31st Intersessional Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) gets underway in Barbados from 18-19 February.
Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is expected to attend the meeting in Bridgetown.
