As
Qatar
Heads GA Over Poorer Nepal, In Shadow of FIFA, Press Is Told to "Ask
Fiji”
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 22 -- After Qatar was appointed to head the UN General
Assembly starting in September, winning candidate Nassir Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser came to take questions from the media.
Inner City Press
asked him about reports that when he faced off with Nepal earlier
this year, many countries which had committed to Nepal to vote for
them mysteriously didn't once the Asia Group secret ballot was taken.
“I'm very
surprised to hear this questions,” Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said.
He said yes, there had been a secret ballot. If you don't think it
was fair, he told Inner City Press, “ask Fiji,” whose ambassador
was head of the Asia Group at the time.
The
question,
though, is not that
surprising. Not only has evidence been found that
Qatar's Bin Hammam was buying votes to run for the president of FIFA
against Sepp Blatter (and by implication at least to some, to buy the
2022 World Cup awarded to Qatar despite not only its size but even
more its heat) -- even in this UN race, there's talk of jobs in the
incoming PGA office being offered in exchange for votes.
This
is becoming
more and more of a pattern at the UN.
Ban & Qatar PR, the latter took questions, the former didn't
In the
Secretariat, officials
from some countries are allowed to stay on past what was said to be
the five year limit in the same post. Inner City Press began asking
Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about some of these cases at
Wednesday's noon briefing. Nesirky said he wouldn't discuss
particular officials' contracts.
Inner
City Press
asked Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser for his view of the request by many
states, recently most vocally Mexico, that the General Assembly be in
charge of choosing the Secretary General, not the Security
Council. Nassir Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser said that there have been a lot of debates about this, that
nothing is resolved. Here's hoping something is accomplished during his
time. We'll be watching.
Footnote:
after
the appointment of Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser as President of
the overall General Assembly, committee chairs were elected,
including for the Fifth (Budget) Committee the Permanent
Representative of Cameroon, Tommo Monthe. He knows how the UN works,
so here's hoping that the Fifth Committee under his leadership gets
to the bottom of the increasing array of budgets tricks being used.
Watch this site.
* * *
At
UN,
“Going
Through Motions” on Syria Resolution, Attending Just
to Listen
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June
17 -- When UN Security Council experts met Friday
morning about the long
pending Syria draft resolution, China and
Russia attended, unlike on Saturday, June 11. But China said they are
not prepared to negotiate about the text, “just listen,” Inner
City Press is informed.
The
Permanent Representative of another Council member told Inner City
Press, “With
two veto threats, the West is just going through the motions.”
Three
hours later
outside the Security Council's so-called “horizon briefing” at
which Syria was one of five agenda items, a Western Council member's
representative told Inner City Press that in the closed door meeting,
comments were made that the refusal to engage of “certain members”
made the Council look bad. This did not seem to much impact those
with a veto.
Rather,
the
resolution's proponents are now openly calling out those whose
foreign ministers have made comments about the resolution, to come
and negotiate around specifics in the text.
South
African's foreign
minister this week told the press that a Syria resolution could
“insinuate regime change.” The response seems to be, show us
where in the text the insinuation can be found. But the concern may
not be only or even mostly textual.
Ban & Assad, UN Panel of Experts Report not shown but here
Ban
Ki-moon has
been in Brazil, but his spokesperson's office's read-outs of meetings
with the president and foreign minister do not mention any discussion
of Brazil's position on the resolution. Ban is seeking a vote on a
second five year term as Secretary General on June 21. Watch this
site.
Footnote:
the
non-attendance
at last Saturday's meeting on the draft Syria
resolution was explained as a matter of worker's rights: only work on
weekends if necessary, and since no change of voting Monday or
Tuesday, why meet Saturday? So further weekend sessions, at least on
Syria, seem unlikely.
, 
