Guyana seeks Caricom backing for Karran as OAS number two

Guyana will be nominating its current ambassador to the United States, Bayney Karran for the position of assistant secretary general (AGS), when the position becomes vacant in 2015, a top official in the country has confirmed.
Current OAS, ASG, Surinamese Albert Ramdin has served two terms and would not be eligible to run again. While Ramdin has expressed an interest in the secretary general position, his government said it would not support his candidacy, but rather would give Guyana’s its vote. Based on long established tradition, the top OAS position would normally go to Latin America, while the assistant goes to the Caribbean.
Guyanese media have been told while some Caribbean countries have indicated their willingness to support Ramdin’s efforts for the top position, a better and perhaps more guaranteed vote would be on Karran, who is also Guyana’s permanent representative to the hemispheric body. “Because of how things have been done over the years, its more than likely someone from Latin America will get the top position, so we would be better off supporting Karran for the number two spot,” a senior government functionary commented.
In May, Caricom will meet and representatives will discuss all proposed nominees for the positions of assistant secretary general and secretary general for the OAS. It was noted that “Caricom will have to come to an agreement and if that is done, Caricom will rally behind the person selected and nominated for the positions, if there are multiple names, then countries will rally individually, we will have to wait and see,” the source stated.
When Guyanese media contacted Karran, he stated that he would be unable to comment while denying that Guyana had proposed a candidate. Earlier this week, the de Ware Tijd of Suriname reported that the Desi Bouterse government will neither nominate nor support Ramdin for secretary general of the OAS in 2015. Instead, it will support the Guyanese nominee for assistant secretary general. According to the report, diplomatic circles abroad are astonished by this development.
The newspaper quoted Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Lackin confirming this decision, adding that he has personally informed Ramdin of this. At the recent 24th Caricom intersessional summit in Haiti, regional leaders were also officially informed that Suriname would not nominate a candidate for this important post. In the past three years, Ramdin has lobbied intensely to win the support of Caricom member states should he be a candidate for the OAS’s highest post. A foreign diplomat in the U. S. claims prime ministers of “some prominent Caricom countries” had already approached Ramdin and pledged their support for him.
The Surinamese diplomat is also considered Caricom’s best chance to ever lead the OAS.
Suriname’s decision not to support its own national has been dubbed as a “betrayal” abroad. “It is unbelievable that Suriname is sacrificing one of its own to support a Guyanese national,” the source, who wishes to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of this matter, told de Ware Tijd.
Lackin said that after Ramdin had announced his ambitions for the OAS post, the government put out feelers to Caricom countries to estimate his chances. “We got the feeling that he did not enjoy the region’s full support, also because we did not really lobby on his behalf.” But the reality in the Americas was also considered; traditionally, the secretary general and assistant do not come from the same region. The decision not to nominate Ramdin was made after consulting with President Desi Bouterse.
“If your chances are not good, you won’t nominate a candidate,” Lackin said in defence of the government’s decision.
Bayney Ram Karran has served as Guyana’s ambassador to the United States since December 2003. Prior to becoming a diplomat, Karran spent two decades working as an attorney.  (Excerpt from Guyana Times)