22
Caribbean Life, April 14-20, 2022
By Ben Brachfeld
Gov. Kathy Hochul has called a special
election for May 24 in the 58th Assembly
District, covering parts of East Flatbush,
Brownsville, and Canarsie, after the seat
was vacated by longtime rep Nick Perry.
Perry’s exit was a long time coming: he
was nominated by President Joe Biden last
year to serve as the American ambassador
to his native Jamaica. Perry was confirmed
by the United States Senate in March and
vacated his seat last month, after nearly 30
years in Albany.
The governor, fresh off of passing a
$220 billion state budget, praised Perry for
his “illustrious” career in the Legislature,
which he entered in 1993, and wished him
well.
“Ambassador Nick Perry has led an illustrious
career, and wish hs distinguished
appointment he continues his trajectory
forward. We wish him all the best in his new
role as US Ambassador to Jamaica,” Hochul
said in a statement. “New Yorkers deserve
to be represented in the fullest capacity, and
an election to fill the Ambassador’s seat is
necessary to ensure their voices are heard. I
look forward to working with the next elected
leader and encourage the people living in
the 58th District to get out and vote.”
The special election, the third for an
Assembly seat in Brooklyn this year, will
take place about a month before the June
Democratic primary. Whoever wins on May
24 will serve until the end of the year; the
winner of the June 28 primary (which may
or may not be the same person) will contest
the November general election and be
sworn in for a full two-year term on Jan.
1, 2023.
City & State notes that Perry’s resignation
on March 30 was timed conveniently to
allow for a special election just ahead of the
primary; had he resigned just two days later,
on or after April 1, it’d be too late to trigger
a special election and the seat would be left
empty ahead of the primary.
By Bert Wilkinson
After all the condemnation and talk in
recent days about splitting the Caribbean
vote, Jamaica is standing firmly behind
its own candidate for the top position at
the Commonwealth Secretariat paving the
way for a fight off between another candidate
being put forward by other regional
nations.
At their mid-year meeting in Belize last
month, CARICOM leaders reported that
they had unanimously decided on a second
term for Dominica-born Baroness, but
British-raised attorney Patricia Scotland
for the position of Commonwealth secretary
general.
But in the past week, Jamaica threw the
proverbial political spanner in the works
by offering up Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Kamina Johnson-Smith as a rival candidate
to Scotland triggering region-wide
fears that the bloc could open the gates for
an outside candidate to take advantage of a
split and divided regional bloc vote.
On Wednesday, regional leaders met in
a virtual emergency session in a bid to
resolve the issue, deciding to set up a seven
nation sub committee of heads of government
to interview both candidates and
likely recommend one who will receive the
backing of the majority of the 15-nation
grouping.
Montserrat, still a current British colony,
cannot vote, neither can Suriname nor
Haiti, who were not former colonies. In
effect, the region has a bloc vote of 12.
A statement from the Guyana-based
regional secretariat late Wednesday stated
that while the grouping wished to reaffirm
foreign policy coordination as a hallmark of
the family, both Dominica and Jamaica had
basically placed the community in a political
vortex as both candidates are “eminently
qualified.” Bearing in mind that it is the
region’s turn for its candidate to serve two
consecutive terms as has been traditionally
the case, the matter has been referred to
the sub committee for resolution.
“They (leaders) noted that two member
states of the community had nominated
two eminently qualified candidates for the
post of secretary-general of the Commonwealth
and agreed that a sub-committee
of heads of government comprising of The
Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, St
Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica
will meet with the two candidates, Baroness
Patricia Scotland, QC and Senator the
Hon. Kamina Johnson-Smith,” the very
terse release noted
There was no word on when the committee
will hold its first meeting but it
will most likely be led by Prime Minister
Juan Antonio Briceño, who is the current
regional chairman.
Jamaica’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Kamina Johnson Smith. Associated
Press/Pavel Golovkin/File
The 54-nation Commonwealth is scheduled
to hold its COVID-postponed summit
in Rawanda in June when a secretary general
would be elected.
The move by Jamaica to nominate its
own foreign minister was met with condemnation
by some governments, including
Dominica and Antigua. Antigua’s Prime
Minister Gaston Browne accused Jamaica of
plotting with others to hound Scotland out
of office even as he wondered whose bidding
Jamaica was serving. PM Roosevelt Skerrit
praised her work in reforming the Londonbased
secretariat, arguing that she should
be the sole nominee. Jamaican officials say
they have the backing of several countries
including India to oust Scotland.
Scotland left Dominica as a toddler for
England, becoming a Queen’s Counsel, a
junior cabinet minister and a member of
the race relations commission.
For some CARICOM countries like Trinidad,
Scotland is seen more as British rather
than a Caribbean person. She was derided
in Britain and other capitals for alleged
corruption and cronyism linked to alleged
misuse of funds for an infrastructural
project and for allegedly breaching procurement
rules.
Assemblymember Nick Perry.Photo by
Nelson A. King
Commonwealth row heads to
Caribbean Community leaders
Special election
called in Nick Perry’s
vacated Brooklyn
Assembly seat
Belize Prime Minister, Juan Antonio
Briceño, www.pressoffice.gov.bz
/www.pressoffice.gov.bz
