From WINN

St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Congratulations poured in from around the Caribbean for the newly elected Dominican-born Commonwealth Secretary General Designate Baroness Patricia Scotland.

Though CARICOM members had been unable to agree on a single candidate for the position and had fielded two: Baroness Scotland and Sir Ronald Saunders, once the announcement was made on Friday, the region rallied around her.

In a congratulatory message, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat welcomed the Baroness’ election, pointing out that she had created history as the first woman to head the organization.

She is also the second Secretary-General to come from the Caribbean Community – the other being Sir Shridath Ramphal of Guyana.

CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque, said the Community looks forward to working with Baroness Scotland in continuing to strengthen the Commonwealth and in building on the close co-operation between that organisation and CARICOM.

Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt who had nominated the former United Kingdom Attorney General for the post and stuck with his nomination despite calls for CARICOM to back a single candidate, was one of the first to offer this congratulations.

“I congratulate Patricia Scotland on her achievement of being the first woman to be elected to this position, and for the honour she has brought to Dominica and the Caribbean as a whole,” Prime Minister Skerritt said in a post on his Facebook page.

He said he was confident that she will “admirably acquit herself of her responsibility to the Commonwealth as it faces the harsh realities of the 21st century.”

The Baroness’ nomination had divided the CARICOM grouping with some countries openly supporting the Guyanese-born Sir Ronald Sanders, the Antigua and Barbuda Ambassador to the United States.

Sir Ronald is reported to have withdrawn from the race after failing to past the first round of voting in Malta on Friday.

Critics of the Baroness claim that while she was born in Dominica she was a product of the British establishment and had not served in the region.

The Baroness who was appointed Queens Counsel in 1991, received her peerage in 1997, and in 2007 became the first female to hold the post of Attorney General of Great Britain. She also served Parliamentary Secretary (Lord Chancellor’s Department) and as Minister of State in the British Government.

St. Kitts-Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris in a statement issued Friday, described the new Commonwealth Secretary General as a woman with strong attachments to the Caribbean and as one who has “a broad global view” which is needed to “lead the Commonwealth in a new era when solutions are required to critical problems”.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad Bissessar meanwhile, said she had “no doubt that Baroness Scotland would maintain her pledge to put the women’s agenda firmly on the table and work with leaders, governments, local governments and other partners.

“It is most fitting for the Commonwealth to recognize the value of women in leadership roles,” Ms Persad Bissessar said.

Baroness Scotland takes up her position next April.

IMAGE: Baroness Patricia Scotland

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