President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Wednesday confirmed the Maldives' support for Jamaica's candidate for Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, H.E. Kamina Johnson-Smith, in the forthcoming elections at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, to be held in June this year. President Solih confirmed the Maldives' support for her candidacy during a phone call with Jamaican Prime Minister H. E. Andrew Michael Holness.

Speaking about H.E. Kamina Johnson-Smith with the Prime Minister, President Solih noted that she was the most qualified candidate due to her extensive experience and background. In his conversation the President noted that Maldives affirms our support for Ms. Johnson’s candidacy without hesitation and expressed his confidence that Maldives and other SIDS would be well represented at the Commonwealth under Ms. Johnson-Smith’s tenure.

Additionally, the two leaders touched upon the close bilateral relationship between the two nations, with President Solih extending an open invitation to the Prime Minister to undertake a visit to the Maldives at a mutually convenient time.

H.E. 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 (CARIFORUM), President of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), and the CARICOM Council on Trade and Development. Presently, she serves as the Coordinator of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva.