Trinidad and Tobago has no official position on calls for the suspension of Gambia from the Commonwealth because of the controversial statements made by its President, Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh, Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon said yesterday.

Jammeh will not be attending next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and instead, Gambia will be represented at the event by its Foreign Affairs Minster, Ousman Jammeh, who will be leading a delegation of nine representatives.

However, calls had been made locally for him to be banned from CHOGM after he made statements that he would kill anyone who seeks to destablise his government as it prepares to host a meeting of the group’s leaders next week.

At yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, Gopee-Scoon outlined this country’s position on the matter.

’We’re not going to make a pronouncement on it. If it comes up at all, it will be a matter for the Heads and by consensus it will then be referred to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), whose responsibility and task it is to assess matters of violation of the fundamental principles of the Commonwealth,’ Gopee-Scoon said.

She had earlier announced that as this country’s Foreign Affairs Minister, she will be joining the CMAG when it holds its meeting in Port of Spain next Wednesday.

While giving no official position on the Gambia controversy, Gopee-Scoon explained that the Government has a ’position with regard to matters of democracy and how we present ourselves and our commitment to the international community and so on’.

’And we’re talking about the rule of law, human rights and all other matters, the non-use of force, the dignities and fundamental human rights of peoples, et cetera, all humanities and responsibilities in the global context and that kind of thing,’ she said.