NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) – The Bahamas Government has reiterated its commitment to the regional integration movement, Caricom, insisting that if the 15-member grouping was not in existence “it would have to be invented”.

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, responding to criticism that the Perry Christie Government may have fragmented the regional grouping over the recent position adopted regarding the election of Baroness Patricia Scotland as the new Commonwealth secretary general, said “the criticism seems personally motivated and activated by some personal animus, the origins of which I know not.

“The substantive criticism, however, is that in supporting Baroness Scotland, the foreign minister has put Caricom as an organisation at risk. Mr Speaker, that is obviously and patently false.

“Caricom is an organisation that remains at the core of regional interaction and common approaches around the world. While there may have been stresses with regard to various choices, I have no doubt that Caricom will continue to survive. I have often said that if it did not exist it would have to be invented. We as small countries have to work together for the common benefit of our region,” he told legislators.

Caricom countries could not agree on a single candidate for the position of secretary general, with Antigua and Barbuda nominating its Ambassador to the United States Sir Ronald Sanders and Dominica putting forward Baroness Scotland, who also served as attorney general in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland, who was born in Dominica to a Dominican mother and Antiguan father, won the election during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Malta late last month.

Mitchell also said that the recent Climate Change Conference in Paris showed “us the great value of Caricom and common action.

“For the record, therefore, I wish to condemn the assertion. I repeat also that the support of the new secretary general of the Commonwealth was, in my judgment, in the best interests of The Bahamas and the region,” Mitchell said, adding that Prime Minister Christie “is likely to lead a delegation to the Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Belize in February”.

During his statement, Mitchell also extended congratulations to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who led his Unity Labour Party to victory in the December 9 general elections in St Vincent and the Grenadines.