Jamaica's Foreign Affairs Minister dismisses calls for resignation
Key Points(5)
- Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamina Johnson Smith has dismissed calls for her resignation which came from members of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP).
- President of the PNP Mark Golding, and spokesperson on Foreign Affairs Lisa Hanna recently called for the resignation of Johnson Smith following Jamaica’s absence from a United Nation’s vote which called for a “humanitarian truce” in the Gaza Strip.
- But Johnson Smith said those saying she should resign are "hungry for a headline" and reacted without knowing all the facts.
- The minister dismissed the calls at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Ocho Rios Division Conference on Sunday.
- "A statement [was done] on behalf of the whole of Caricom, including Jamaica; we write the statement, we draft it, we led the discussion on it.
Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamina Johnson Smith has dismissed calls for her resignation which came from members of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP).
President of the PNP Mark Golding, and spokesperson on Foreign Affairs Lisa Hanna recently called for the resignation of Johnson Smith following Jamaica’s absence from a United Nation’s vote which called for a “humanitarian truce” in the Gaza Strip.
But Johnson Smith said those saying she should resign are "hungry for a headline" and reacted without knowing all the facts.
The minister dismissed the calls at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Ocho Rios Division Conference on Sunday.
"A statement on behalf of the whole of Caricom, including Jamaica; we write the statement, we draft it, we led the discussion on it. So it is not a thing nobody don't know where we stand on the issue. A little communication thing happened, yes, and that was a problem and we are going to fix that problem," said Johnson Smith.
On October 27, a total of 120 countries voted in favor of the non-binding United Nations resolution which called for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza. Johnson-Smith later clarified that a technical cross in communication led to Jamaica’s representative not voting.
"Different countries were suggesting all kinds of different things that complicated the matter during the day. I want to tell you that if she had just done some research and listened to the statement, listened to the fact that Jamaica said that there should be a cessation of hostilities, Jamaica said there was no justification for killing innocent people, Jamaica said we call for peace…," added Johnson Smith.
She also added that Jamaica's position on the world stage is strong, despite criticisms that the none note was a major blunder on the government's part.
"Jamaica's position on the world stage is strong. Don't listen to what the PNP is saying. And there are some people who their thing is to bad-mouth Jamaica. I don't know if that was who she was talking to but there are some people who are like that.
"Jamaica is large and trusted on the international stage and nothing the PNP says will change that," Johnson Smith said.
