Guyana “very optimistic” Karran will be OAS’ next Assistant Secretary General

Last Updated on Monday, 16 March 2015, 22:32 by GxMedia

Guyana remains “very confident” that its candidate would be voted in as the next Assistant Secretary General of the Organisation of America States (OAS)  on Wednesday although another Caribbean Community (Caricom) member-state is fielding a candidate.

“It looks good so far. Off course, if all the countries that had indicated their commitment to us continue to maintain that commitment then I am confident,”  Guyana’s Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett told Demerara Waves Online News.

Guyana’s candidate is its Ambassador to the United States (US) and Permanent Representative to the OAS, Bayney Karran.  He is coming up against Belize’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, Nestor Mendez.

Analysts say Belize, also a Caricom member state, might pull support from the Central American Integration System (SICA) of which that Central American country is also a member.

Rodrigues-Birkett hopes that Guyana can pull a minimum of 18 votes from among the 35 voting member states. “Ideally, we it would have been good if we had had one candidate. We put out our candidate first and we were hoping that that would have been the situation but we work with what we have and see how it goes,” she said.

If Karran does not win, observers are seeking solace in the fact that the Caribbean would still be holding on to the post. Surinamese, Albert Ramdin has been Assistant Secretary General of the hemispheric body for more than a decade.

The candidates recently presented their perspectives to the OAS Permanent Council.

Member states would also on March 18 vote for the position of Secretary General to replace Jose Miguel Insulza.

They are former Guatemala Prime Minister Eduardo Stein and Uruguay’s Foreign Minister, Luis Almagro.