Jesse Ramdeo

For­eign and Cari­com Af­fairs Min­is­ter Sean Sobers has de­fend­ed the Gov­ern­ment’s de­ci­sion to vote against ex­tend­ing the tenure of Unit­ed Na­tions High Com­mis­sion­er for Hu­man Rights Volk­er Türk, in­sist­ing the move was based on con­cerns about the ap­point­ment process, not the of­fi­cial’s per­for­mance or Trinidad and To­ba­go’s po­si­tion on the Is­rael-Pales­tine con­flict.

Last week, Trinidad and To­ba­go stood alone among Cari­com mem­ber states in op­pos­ing the ex­ten­sion of Türk’s man­date un­til 2030. The res­o­lu­tion nev­er­the­less passed com­fort­ably, with 144 coun­tries vot­ing in favour, ten against and 13 ab­stain­ing.