CARICOM Power Struggle Heads to the Region’s Highest Court

A leadership dispute inside CARICOM is now heading to the Caribbean Court of Justice. Trinidad and Tobago has maintained its objection to the way the Secretary General of CARICOM was reappointed, and regional leaders have now agreed to seek an advisory opinion from the CCJ. The matter came up during Monday’s Retreat of CARICOM Heads of Government, where the community acknowledged Trinidad and Tobago’s request to have the court interpret the process under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Until that opinion is considered, CARICOM says the status quo on the Secretary General’s reappointment will remain. Regional leaders are framing the move as an effort to settle the issue amicably, while also reinforcing the CCJ’s role as the body created to interpret CARICOM’s treaty. They also insist that the dispute is not an attack on any member state or individual, but part of a wider push to strengthen governance across the Community. Tonight, we look at what triggered the objection, why the matter is going before the CCJ, and what it could mean for CARICOM’s leadership going forward. Here’s regional correspondent Peter Richards with the latest from Castries, St. Lucia.

 

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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