President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has revealed that the Maldives will support Jamaica's candidate Kamina Johnson-Smith for Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations. He made the statement during a phone call with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness. The elections will be held at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, in June.
During the phone call with the Jamaican prime minister, President Solih noted that Kamina Johnson-Smith was the most qualified candidate due to her extensive experience and background. The president highlighted that the Maldives affirms its support for her candidacy without hesitation and expressed his confidence that the Maldives and other small island developing states will be well represented in the Commonwealth under her tenure. Additionally, the two leaders touched upon the close bilateral relationship between the two nations, with the president extending an open invitation to the prime minister to undertake a visit to the Maldives at a mutually convenient time.
Kamina Johnson-Smith is Jamaica’s first female Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. She previously served as the Chair of the Caribbean Forum, President of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and the Pacific States, and in the Caribbean Community Council on Trade and Development. Presently, she serves as the Coordinator of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva.