Byron Blake | Uneasy lies the head of a secretariat

The Gleaner, in an editorial, raised the issue of Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s attack on CARICOM Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, and on the process leading to her proposed reappointment as potentially existential challenges to the almost 53-year-old Caribbean Community.

We agree that there is a challenge in finding a secretary general for a 2026 and beyond Caribbean Community of sovereign states. We do not believe that the fundamental challenge lies either in the reappointment of Dr Barnett per se, or in the very “unstateswomanlike” posturing or positions of the prime minister. There has been no questioning of Dr Barnett’s integrity or competence, and the short attention span of President Trump will cure the prime minister’s flight into wonderland.

The challenge lies in something much more fundamental. It is inherent in former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson’s conclusion of his April 1 Norman Manley Lecture. We read into his conclusion a call for leadership to harness the “collective responsibility for governments, private sector and civil societies to transform CARICOM [to] become a strong, coherent and cohesive integer … essential to fulfil our destiny”. Put differently, the region needs a different type of secretariat and secretary general.

TYPES

Our study of multilateral and regional organisations reveals three types of secretaries general, namely:

1. The supranational organisation;

2. The Demasian/Ramphalian;

3. The Muldoonian.

The United Nations and the European Union (EU) exemplify the supranational organisation. These organisations and their secretaries general or commissioners have the power, by treaty, to initiate action and commit the members. The UN can authorise peacekeeping missions, enforce sanctions, or approve military intervention in a member state. The EU imposes taxes and is financially independent of the member states.

CARICOM member states have, by treaty, words, and action, made it clear from the beginning and over the ensuing 50-plus years that they will not countenance a supranational body.

The Muldoonian Secretariat, a category named after the reprimand that New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon reportedly inflicted on Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal. Muldoon, as the story goes, asked Ramphal whether he knew that the function of a secretariat was to record what member states had said. Whether the attribution to Muldoon is true or not, the note taker/record keeper secretary general is the type desired, at convenient times, by most CARICOM member states. The secretary general, who awaits the lead of the states, facilitates non-action and provides a shield as it absorbs blame for slow or lack of progress.

The Caribbean slipped into the “Muldoonian” mode over two decades ago. That was not a secretariat or secretary general-driven phenomenon. Many governments, aided and abetted by their business sectors, wished to avoid the national actions to implement the CSME to which they had solemnly committed. They did not wish a secretariat that systematically and consistently held up their failings to public scrutiny. Various secretaries general have obliged.

A 2012 Gleaner article identified the issue in these terms: “Leadership - political, institutional and business – has failed the Caribbean integration process and people over the last decade in the thrust to move from common market to single market and economy and to cope in an unsympathetic global environment.”

ATTITUDE

The attitude of the leadership has not changed. The political leaders continue to appoint and reappoint secretaries general who are safe and risk-averse.

Given the reluctance to change the treaty, the type of secretary general required for the mission suggested by former Prime Minister Patterson must be of the Demasian/Ramphalian type. That is, a secretary general with a deep appreciation of the global environment, a clear vision for the region, and the willingness to push leaders in new directions. This will be risky. But it is what is required for survival as a sovereign region. They will face rebuffs, as Ramphal did from Prime Minister Muldoon. But with persistence, their tenures will see successes.

Sir Shridath’s and the Commonwealth secretariat’s role in dismantling apartheid and the liberation of Southern Africa, in particular the independence of Zimbabwe and South Africa, will never be forgotten. Similarly, William Demas’ transformation of the newly established Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), including a common market, and the establishment of mechanisms, including for the region to negotiate airfares and freight rates with the international airlines and shipping companies, which moved people and goods into and out of the region. He pushed leaders to the point where a minister from a certain member state announced publicly that William Demas would no longer be welcome in his country.

Yet, as secretary general for less than five years, the contribution of William Demas and his secretariat to Caribbean integration and regional development will never be forgotten. The country whose minister declared him persona non grata experienced a major earthquake a few months later, and Demas was the first person invited to come and assist.

Visionary secretaries general who push leaders in new and positive directions might encounter pushback, but they are usually deeply admired. Constitutional lawyer and former St Kitts/Nevis Attorney General Sir Lee Moore once admitted that while he disagreed with Secretary General Demas 20 per cent of the time, some things needed to be said, and only he could say them. So to maintain his credibility, he would not publicly dispute the 20 per cent.

A WORD TO PM KAMLA

Member states attend caucus by right, not by invitation. It is the responsibility of the representative to get to the announced venue for the caucus.

The decision to appoint or reappoint a Secretary General is the responsibility of the conference, subject to the treaty. If there is a perceived breach, the recourse is through the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Member states contributions to the budget of community institutions are based on an agreed formula derived from the relative size of their economies, modified to accommodate a 25 per cent cap, requested by T&T. Request a review.

Ambassador Byron Blake is former deputy permanent representative of Jamaica to the United Nations and former assistant secretary general of CARICOM. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com