A war of words has developed between the Guyana-based CARICOM secretariat and online outlet, Caribbean News Now, following the publication of an article entitled “Dominica confuses and embarrasses CARICOM.”
Apparently the secretariat is unhappy about the article, describing it as “grossly inaccurate.”
The article alleges that Dominica caused “confusion and embarrassment” to other CARICOM governments recently at scheduled meeting of CARICOM foreign ministers in New York when Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal, a member of the British House of Lords, was found to be occupying Dominica’s chair. It also said that because of Scotland’s presence, the meeting was delayed and eventually she was “quietly asked to leave the room.”
Scotland is Dominica’s nominee for Commonwealth Secretary General.
In a statement the CARICOM secretariat said, “Contrary to the reporting in the second paragraph (of the article), the delay at the start of the meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) held in New York, USA on 25th September was simply due to the participants awaiting their colleagues to ensure that the meeting began with a quorum.”
It continued, “Further, much later in the proceedings as the Ministers moved to consider the agenda item with respect to candidatures of CARICOM and of third countries seeking CARICOM support, delegates who had been proposed as CARICOM candidates for the posts of Commonwealth Secretary General and Assistant Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States left the room as is normal procedure in such circumstances.”
“It is highly unfortunate that such an interpretation of those particular aspects of the meeting should be so inaccurate,” the secretariat said. “It would be preferable if you attempt to corroborate the facts from official sources before publication and in that regard the Communications Unit of the CARICOM secretariat is always at your service.”
But it appears Caribbean News Now is not taking the matter lying down.
Barry Randall, managing editor of the publication, is demanding that the secretariat clarify a number of issues.
“Your statement in effect asserts that a sitting member of the British parliament was permitted to participate in high level proceedings of CARICOM ministers at which sensitive matters of foreign policy and the corresponding governmental and regional positions would have been discussed – with the claimed exception of one single session,” he said in an email. “Please reconfirm that our understanding in this respect is correct.”
Randall is also asking the secretariat to “state whether and in what circumstances the same privilege would have been extended to, for example, a sitting member of the US Congress or the Canadian parliament, or any other foreign parliamentarian for that matter.”
He continued, “You also state that the candidates for the position of Commonwealth secretary general were asked to excuse themselves from the relevant discussions. Please indicate which candidates for the position of Commonwealth secretary general were in fact present at the meeting in question.”
“Finally,” Randall wrote. “Just as you admonish us to corroborate facts before publishing, we urge you to do the same before issuing statements because the unavoidable conclusion to be drawn from your response is that senior regional ministers cannot now be relied upon to report events truthfully.”
The matter has caused a firestorm of controversy in Dominica and Dominica’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vince Henderson said the article “is the furthest thing from the truth.”
Love that smile Baroness Scotland !
Am gonna be in London by mid fall
Looking forward to frolic in the politics
You are rude. Give the lady some respect.
Someone posed the question on this forum:” would a U.K. Conservative Party government nominate a member of the Labour Party”.
The answer to that is a resounding”yes”. Baroness Patricia Scotland visited S.Africa from 2-7 March of this year as British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Trade Envoy for S.Africa.
You can read the relevant British Government’s announcement in full on their official web site: http://www.gov.uk/government/…/uk-trade-envoy-visits-south africa
So, Barbara Saunders Skerrit et Al soon going to fall on their swords? lol
In addition:Attitudes and behaviours which are nurtured over time do not disappear overnight, so what we have been feeding our people over the years, particularly the young will come back to bite us. Nuh Barbs you got this one wrong. No coming back to bite us ,it is biting us daily with ever act of stupidity. Nurture this one in the nature island.
Bards the country needs a political transfusion or a political bone marrow replacement. DA is in a bad shape we might just need to read her last sacrament. The donors are infected too so not a good match.
Am out side . We hear about thinking outside the box all our make believe educated folk love this expression.Man allof you are in the box how are you to think outside. Iam not in DA so one possible donor of new uncontaminated blood. Im asking a few good D/can uncontaminated men and women to comeforward and save this land call DA.
What do you think Barbs?
Bardara
When you find them, send an e-mail to DNO so we can all read who they are. Unlike you I am here and have been here for a long time. I am older than 10 years and unfortunately unable to clear the recycle bin of my memory and start with a new folder.
No, we are not all in the box. Some of us just know that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.
Okay then Badara, suit yourself!
But I am saying it won’t stop biting, and the falling on the swords won’t stop, change or no change, unless we start sowing good and positive attitudes and behaviours on both sides of the divide.
Remember the arguments Mr.Astaphan used to justify why we should disconnect Dominica from the Privy Council? These same arguments are coming back to haunt Tony.
it never said that she was asked to leave or made to leave…if said candidates left as per protocol. Most
Ikelt, they knew before hand that stab certain point they must excuse themselves!
This is normal….I’ve been to many meetings where certain parts of the agendas I had to excuse myself. It could have been because it was inc a era, or I didn’t want to be part of that aspect of the meting etc.
But such is normal, to be present for some, but not all parts of a meeting
The Baroness spent her first 2 years in D’a and the next 50 years in Britain representing D’a at Caricom. As a sitting MP in Britain and a titled member of the British aristocracy, her personal life, professional life and political life are characterized by sworn allegiance and service to the British Crown– not Caricom. Despite her long and loyal service to the former colonial power, Britain has not nominated her for the position she now seeks. So why is it that a Baroness who has absolutely no record of public service in Caricom– who is a titled British citizen and a sworn crusader for British interests– being foisted on Caricom as a representative of D’a and possible Caricom nominee? Well. . . because Skerrit wants it so. Why does he want it so? Well. . . because he seeks political mileage for putting a “Dominican” in a high-profile international job. Will we let him get away with it? Well. . . are our eyes wide shut?
Baroness Scotland is not a hereditary peer or an MP. She holds no position in the Government or Opposition. Her title and seat in the House of Lords is for life. Since 2010 she returned to private practice and is free to accept this post and any other she wishes. She is a proud citizen of Dominica and has brought it considerable credit. It is that we Dominicans at our best are hospitable, open minded people who treat others like brothers and sisters who God allowed to be born elsewhere. Finally as her father would have said: “Those whom God blesses no man may curse”.
THE SAME DLP’s MODUS OPERANDI
When Matt Peltier wrote a story “Million Dollar Assets on $5000.00 salary, he was viciously attacked and sued;
When Thomson Fontaine raised issues in the Dominican.net about the unlawful sale of our passports, he was attacked and sued;
When a Bangladeshi criminal made damming accusations in a series of articles about the alleged corrupt practices of the DLP administration, he was first severely attacked, then befriended and bribed and the publication of the articles miraculously stopped;
When an International/Hemispheric Organization wrote about the death of Democracy in Dominica, a 49 page memorandum was hastily dispatched with threats to the Organization and soon thereafter, the article was withdrawn;
Now, the same approach is being used against Caribbean News Now. But this time the editor is standing his ground to the attack and threats. Unlike Matt Peltier and the Times, Caribbean News Now will not accept a settlement as a bribe to be quiet;
Yow tout sue!
Respectfully
Roseau Valley
Get over yourself. Serritt and the DLP are not that powerful to buy everybody. When the truth reveals all untrue stories are recanted because they were UNTRUE in the first place.
OUR SPIN DOCTOR CAN SPIN THE BARONESS STORY AS MUCH AS HE LIKES. – THE FACTS ARE THE FACTS- HE SHOULD STICK TO THEM AND STOP THE LIES.
TEAM DOMINICA /UWP IS NOT BASHING BARONESS SCOTLAND.
We have all been listening to all sides on this issue of the discomfiture and shameful display of our Dominican administration and the unprofessional and embarrassing conduct of the Dominican Ambassador, who is now the Secretary-General of CARICOM.
Before dealing with the core issue, one should pose a few questions and eliminate what this issue is not about.
1. Why has Tony and the DLP changed the issue to one of bashing Baroness Scotland? Who is doing that? Definitely not UWP/Team Dominica. This is not even an issue. The UWP recognized that Baroness Scotland is a distinguished Dominican lady, who is highly qualified and happens to have lived most of her life in England.
2. The editor of CaribbeanNewsNow has posed some interesting questions to both the DLP CARICOM SG and the DLP administration, which exposed the partisan nature of the Dominican Ambassador at CARICOM- which continues to embarrass the regional Organization. To date, they cannot respond but they keep braying.
3. Please! This is an article written and published by CaribbeanNewsNow. This is not a story that originated from the UWP. Therefore, if Tony and others wish to bray like A….s, then they could try to attack CaribbeanNewsNow. The UWP is not bashing anyone. It is grossly unfair to attribute blame to Team Dominica/UWP for what the DLP say is “Bashing” Baroness Scotland. No one is against citizens of Dominica living abroad. Stop lying. No one is attacking the lady’s qualifications or her accomplishments or denigrating the lady. Stop the lies. Stick to the facts and do not spin and deflect the issue from what it is not.
4. TONY keeps saying that Baroness was never asked to leave, albeit the DLP Ambassadors to the UN , Vince Henderson and the DLP Ambassador to CARICOM both confirmed the fact that Baroness Scotland was asked to leave the meeting whether “quietly” or embarrassingly so – she was asked to excuse herself from the meeting. Stop the lies! les! lies and cover ups.
Lennox Linton did not “bash” Baroness Scotland. We heard him showering praises and highlighting her outstanding achievements. He even stated that she would be a great candidate. Lennox simply referenced the facts of the article published by CaribbeanNewsNow and sought to demonstrate how inept the DLP administration continues to be.
The core issue of the story that Tony and the DLP seem to be ignoring is that fact that Dominica did in fact caused “confusion and embarrassment” to other CARICOM governments at the meeting of CARICOM foreign ministers when Baroness Scotland, a member of the British House of Lords, was found to be occupying Dominica’s chair and her presence at the meeting was unwelcomed as it was not in accordance with protocol. The issue is not about whether other CARICOM countries support or do not support Baroness Scotland as Dominica’s candidate or whether other CARICOM countries also presented a candidate. That is not in issue.
The fact remains that there were no other candidates present at the meeting. Only the Dominica candidate was at the meeting and asked to leave.
No other candidate for the position of Commonwealth SG was present and asked to be excused. This is the core issue on which the DLP and the CARICOM Ambassador continue to lie and contradict themselves.
Furthermore, notwithstanding what Tony and the DLP may say, there is something to be said about someone who has never worked in Dominica or the Caribbean, who is a sitting member of the British parliament sitting as a representative of a CARICOM member state at a CARICOM meeting with CARICOM ministers where sensitive political issues pertaining to the CARICOM is being discussed. Candidates who put themselves up for elections at these meetings do not customarily attend meetings in which there candidature is being discussed.
This conduct of the DLP and the SG of CARICOM are embarrassing and shameful.
Respectfully
Roseau Valley
Succinct and to the point. In trying to spin this story and deflect from the real issues our Govt. is only tarnishing the international image of Dominica further. It is shameful.
mr what about vince before you interpret you must read carefully no one was asked to leave the room the report states that” support, delegates who had been proposed as CARICOM candidates for the posts of Commonwealth Secretary General and Assistant Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States left the room as is normal procedure in such circumstances.”
This statement by the labour supporting Dominican Caricom official is misleading. This was supposed to be a meeting of Caricom firing ministers, wasn’t it? Then my question is why was she at this meeting? No announcement has been made to the populace that she officiated in that capacity so it is fair to conclude that she is not. Furthermore, if it is allowed for someone else to represent the foreign minister, then the general population should be made aware of any such decision.
The next issue is that of potential candidates being asked to leave the meeting. It is standard practice that if a member of a committee is being considered for a post then that member is excluded from the deliberations. So for example, if skerritt was being considered for the post he would have been asked to leave the meeting at that juncture. He would never have been asked to leave before then however sensitive the nature of discussions was. So in a nutshell the good lady had no right to be at the meeting. No amount of spin can justify this disgraceful and disrespectful behaviour on the part of skerritt and the total lack of good judgement by Baroness Scotland.
Hey why is caricom having a meeting in manhattan-new york and not in the caribbean
And if caricom and the commonwealth close their office, no one would notice or care. Dominica can name who ever they want to represent them.
hey you ought to have soken with the village schoolmaster B4 spilling ur ignorance in public/online. saqway…………………….what I will not say.
you stand out like a rotton apple or for you banana in the bunch.
You seem not to have a clue of the topic being discussed. Saqway…………………..sort
It is now denied that she was not asked to leave. She voluntarily left. It is not even making worldwide news.
Let us put it down to, this story is much ado about nothing. It is only a storm in a teapot and not worth my further comments.
An important part of the story has been left out.
According to Caribbean News Now, “Dominica’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Vince Henderson, has also issued a similar statement, except he insists that “at no time was Baroness Scotland asked to leave any meeting”, which itself contradicts the CARICOM statement saying that she was in fact asked to leave as above.”
Who is tellling the truth and who is not?
read my brother read
You talk about leaving things out, but If only you continued reading……”As is customary at these meetings, and of course Baroness Scotland, a Queen’s Counsel, is no stranger to that, when a matter in which someone has a personal interest is being discussed, the person must excuse himself or herself. That was done with decorum and befitting of a Dominican who has attained such high office. She left and returned after the matter was discussed,” he explained.”
What About Vince? The story stated that she was asked to leave the meeting and that she was the reason that the meeting started late. Vince has said that she was not asked to leave. The Caricom statement says the applicants left the room as is customary when matters concerning their interest was going to be discussed. Were they asked to leave or did they leave as is protocol? where is the mistruth there? clown?
You did not listen well. He said HE asked her to leave and for the same reason. He said AT NO TIME AS SHE ASKED BY OTHER MEMBERS to leave, but he conveyed the message to her that she had to step out for that section of the agenda. Go and listen again, and this time listen to hear, not to rebut. When we listen to hear, we hear everything, when we listen to rebut, we are only hearing what we think will make an argument…. try it.
I also heard the Ambassador Vince Henderson give the reason for asking her to leave at a particular stage. According to Ambassador Henderson, she did not have an agenda and could not know what was up for discussion next. Whether we beleive Mr. Henderson this on particular detail is another matter. What concerns me is the hysteria that has been created. Everybody seem to be focusing on what steps or mis-steps the government might have made on this matter and have attributed that to corruption and other UWP led political language. It comes across to me that PmSkerrit and his government is weildinga tremendous amount of influence not only in Dominica but indeed to other jurisdictions to the extent that they can dictate and tell other professionals in foreign lands how to behave. PM Skerrit seems to be such a super man such that he can tell the career professionals at the Caricom Secretariat how to behave, and to even tell an untruth to protect his “evil”. See how the UWP led opposition is able to lower the discussion to suggest that Dominica’s Caricom Ambassador is behind the response from Caricom.
As long as you do not agree with the UWP in its quest to wrest power from the DLP at any cost, no matter how, you are castigated and maligned to the furthest heaven. Baroness Scotland does not deserve such a treatment. I belive it would be music to the ear if later today they would hear the “breaking news” that Baroness Scotland has declined and withdrew her name for nomination as Secretary general of the Commonwealth.
Aswe read on we fail to recognize that no one is observing that the person who seemingly originated the story or who seem to know so much about the story before it reached the Dominican public has been distant from the story. Who wrote the story? The Editor is keeping that “whistle blower” close to his heart After all this is a story that has far reaching implications for the reputation of an otherwise outstanding Dominican personality who has made it big on the world stage. So far it appears that some anonymous person wrote the piece on information that was received according to the Editor by sources originating from senior regional officials. No name no warrant. But then Lennox Linton who broke the news to the Dominican public did identify the writer of the article. When other commentators levelled at the identified contributor for a poor report, the Editor of the publication denied it was the said person. Who is lying then? Lennox or the Editor of the publication. I have not heard Lennox recanted his exposure. Is he keeping to his word? Too big, or arrogant to accept he was caught with his boxers down – yet again? But then again, Lennox speaks “truth to Power” – always. He cannot be faulted.
It bothers me when our Jacks and Jenny’s just don’t seem to be able to get it right. Is it a flaw with the understanding of the English language of just plain stupidity at the highest level; These semi-literates still think we live in the dark ages. What is this talk about “bashing” of the distinguished Dominican lady. If to question the merits or demerits of the contents of an article published by a Caribbean publishing entity is so offensive to be called bashing then we are really lost to the rest of the universe. I heard the leader of the UWP heap praises on the attributes of Baroness Scotland but stated clearly that if what was published in the article was in fact true then the blame must squarely be placed on the present Dominica Administration. He further stated that she would be an excellent candidate for that position; is that bashing? Why do these jacks-an-jenny’s think that our semi-literates who are hell bent on transgressing all forms of law and protocol should not be commented about. I long to see the day when commonsense and not (rear-sense) is the order of the day.
It is none of what you suggested it is about lies and deception to confuse and finally to profit from scams
Gab,
My elder brother always told me as a kid( when I mentioned the compound word commonsense) That it was a scarce commodity. Even we are miles apart and this word comes up I always smile realizing this guy was way ahead in foresight.
Today when we speak & discourse DA on the phone ( and that ‘s often say once /week) He always reminds me of the aforementioned, adding it’s still scarce around these parts and our gov’t & opposition are a reflection of us.
Love you bro!
Just observing your objectivity. Not that I agree with you, but at last you have stood out among the rest of us. Government might have lapsed in procedures on this one, but there is no reason for the opposition led total opposition to the nomination. Whilst Lennox might have have avoided going public and lead the charge (and for good reasons too), those of us who live here know who are the shirkers and jerkers, the playmakers, movers and definers of policy in the UWP. As far as the UWP is concerned, they cannot go on the public record to suggest that the lady is not eminently qualified. That would spell disaster for “cow girl” in St. Joe. But the fact that the goodly lady was nominated by PM Skerrit and that some person or governments in Caricom is opposed to the nomination and or strategy, the UWP must now fall in line and oppose simply on this point – simply because a supposedly influential voice in the region came up against PM Skerrit. We live here and we know their modus operandi. Go back and listen carefully to the Linton’s statement about “what might have influenced government to nominate her” Isn’t he casting aspersions and speaking to his followers.
I agree we need to be more objective in our political discourse, but also to say it as it is. Common sense is really rare in our political discourse.
A crucial part of the story has not been reported by DNO.
“Dominica’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Vince Henderson, has also issued a similar statement, except he insists that “at no time was Baroness Scotland asked to leave any meeting”, which itself contradicts the CARICOM statement saying that she was in fact asked to leave as above.
Vince Hemderson has said that at no time was Baroness Scotland asked to leave any meeting, while Caricom has said that candidate were asked to leave.
Who is telling the truth and who is not?
Didn’t you also hear that when Lennox spoke to Matt on Monday morning he identified by name and surname the writer of the article? When other people levelled at the identified writer, later on the Editor forcefully denied it was the person. There is some suggestion that the writer’s name – the same person that Lennox identified was appended tothe article and later removed. He did not deny it when Lennox spoke very early in the morning. So who is lying? Lennox or the Editor?
yeah u in guyana take that. now we see how big men act towards lack of communication or the lack of it…. let us see how this saga plays out
People who seem now to be blaming caricom should lay the blame squarely at this clearly embarrassed and apparently less than bright editor fellow……..his responses are childish and quite frankly disrespectful….. He is now seeking with a tone which seems laced with contempt to ask caricom to answer questions that he SHOULD have asked before going to print……period….Accordingly it is my humble view that caricom clearly owes his publication no explanation whatsoever….In closing he arrogantly suggests that is caricom saying that senior govt ministers cannot speak for caricom???? Give the man a gold star finally he gets it no govt minister or prime minister has the right to speak on behalf of caricom unless specifically mandated by the council, chairman or sub committee of caricom. And all this serves to show sir is your level of unprofessionalism or ignorance or combination of both. Hopefully you learn from your serious poor judgement in this regard.
Secretariat? Is that the name of a person or a title ? So is this person writing on behalf ofvthemself or Caricom.
DNO make your position Known in this matter. Do you support the nomination of Baroness Scotland a Dominican citizen or do you support the bashing of the good Lady by this bias online news paper for political reasons.
It is interesting to note that no other news outlet had taken on the story which is grossly innacurate
ADMIN: We have no position on this matter. We simply report what is going on. We are reporting all sides of the story: from those who made the allegations, to those who countered the allegations, to CARICOM’s response to the allegations. When we first reported the matter, we described it an allegation.
Amen DNO! Why should someone ask a news source to take a position? Lord!
Medard et AL my friends not Dominica, attempted to foist its nominee on CARICOM meetings, each with predictable results, We are led to question the state of mind of Medard et AL, not Dominicans per say:( the decision makers in the Dominican government that’s correct)in the context of Einstein’s theory of insanity. Well some people say it’s repeating the same mistakes and expect to get different results. It seems to have worked a lot for that Neo-DLP cabal. It work for their land transfer deal for a while until an article came out Million $ assets $5000.00 EC monthly salary by a radio talkshow host. It was resolved quietly after talk of suing surfaced. Now the joke is that announcer never spoke about the settlement( maybe court ordered lol) However this author of the article keeps the heat on every morning.
The Bins cheaply purchase by a minister’s brother 1/2, 3/4 still a brother) outside the misty woods of PA was yet another.Readers can extraplot for the sake of space and time.
Just this weekend there was an article in the NY times abou
t Putin’s circle of flowers buddies like those of Medard.N.B am quoting my source no plagiarism acusation for John Doway )Names and worth of many people were mentioned along with photos. Just substitiute these flowers to our picture here on island.
To be continued.
You want more?
The editor has asked pertinent questions….Caricom looks so foolish.
The darkness…it must come out the light.
@ Gulfstream, was it the UWP that published this article or Caribbean News Now? FYI it was published by Caribbean news now and I don’t see why you want to blame it on UWP. Instead of playing chest on this one and since you seem to divert our attention, I encourage you to answer those four simple questions that Barry Randall, of “Caribbean News Now” posted to the secretariat. I hope you did not think it was published by Lennox Linton of Q95 because you guys are so blind and like to take pleasure in twisting facts.
Werll Lennox said on air that it was written by Rebecca Theodore and we all know where she stands. It is a UWP story.
Was the author of the article right there or did someone give the story and maybe something got lost or added in translation. A word comes to mind but I cannot remember the word as I write.
Why wouldn’t the author want his or her name mentioned in such an important story, to be at the UN that would be a career highlight, just being there for any reporter or was the author supposed to be somewhere else for work purposes and not where the story supposedly took place? Like playing too back?
Maybe the author’s name was removed after all the talala. Of course many writers do write under different names and we know that is not illegal, except
The leader of the UWP told us who wrote the story but the Newspaper said it is not who the UWP leader said it is.
Someone is not telling us the truth here either.
I’m so sick of this BS. Somebody is not telling whole truth. I do believe that something did happen at that meeting. But it must stay covered up.to protect someone and that is just my opinion.
James Bond, You are so clear, itconcerns me why the hypocrites fail or are unwilling to admit it. didn’t they learn the all adage ;”There’s no smoke with fire?”
without it was suppose to read. My bad.
Is it about country or protocol. If its about country then I would love to have her sit at an ALBA CONFERENCE. Is this possible? just asking.
If Dominica wishes to nominate Baroness Scotland for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General she must resign from the British House of Lords and Prime Minister Skerrit must appoint her to a ministerial position in his Cabinet.
What persons must understand is she cannot be a sitting member of the British Legislature and at the same time be attending meetings of Caricom with other Caricom Ministers where sensitive political and other issues are being discussed. The British Government would never invite a West Indian politician to represent it at a meeting of the European Commission or any such similar body. Not only would the European Commission object but the UK Government and Opposition would reject any attempt to do so.
The question therefore is why has not the British Government nominated her for the post and why are they keeping quiet on the matter. Is it because they do not wish to nominate her in the first place and have taken a back road by asking Dominica to do so?
The fact that she is Dominican born bears no relevance to the matter and those persons who keep on saying that she is qualified for the post are missing the essential point which is she is a sitting member of the British House of Lords representing the interests of the British Government. How is she going to change that? If the British Government wants to put her up as their candidate then that is what they should do and not put Dominica in the embarrassing position in which it now finds itself as a result of poor and wrong advice if that was the case.
what she mu