Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

On Next SG, ICP Asks Kerim of 60,000 Euro Campaign, Lykketoft Of All Disclosing

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 14 -- How should the next UN Secretary General be selected, to improve the Organization?

First, how low has the UN fallen, in terms of corruption, not stopping rapes, and retaliating against the Press that asks the questions? On April 13, Inner City Press asked candidate Vesna Pusic what she would do to avoid corruption; she said keep an eye on everything coming in and going out, and keep the rules simple.

Inner City Press also asked Danilo Turk if journalists in the UN should have due process rights, which they do not now (he said yes) and about the Haiti cholera case. He said he thought Ban Ki-moon is working behind the scene on compensating the victims. But when Inner City Press asked, Ban's spokesman only spoke about trying to improve sanitation going forward.

On April 14, Inner City Press asked Vuk Jeremic what he would do to clean up the ongoing corruption shown in the John Ashe / Ng Lap Seng case and the audit Inner City Press exclusively put online, here.

Jeremic replied he would require UN officials to make public financial disclosure (unlike Ban Ki-moon), would strengthen OIOS (whose Ng Lap Seng audit lets Ban off the hook) and protect whistleblowers.

Inner City Press asked Jeremic, as it has asked the other candidates, to disclosure his campaign's funding. Jeremic said he won't take money from countries, including Serbia which nominated him; he'll "fundraise" and disclose it.

(Luksic told Inner City Press he will disclosure; Danilo Turk disclosed in a tweet his 40,000 Euro limit).

Inner City Press ran to the Helen Clark stakeout but wasn't called on for a question (it would have asked about funding and how much time off from UNDP for Clark she considers appropriate.) But at the end, Inner City Press asked audibly, "When will the UNDP South-South audit be released?"

Clark replied, Mr Lee, it will come out in mid-April. Inner City Press said thank. It is already April 14.

Inner City Press asked FYROM's Kerim to disclose his campaign's financing (60,000 Euro from the government, he pays for airline upgrades) and of the scandals, if he was ever offered anything.

Then PGA Lykketoft came last, and as the last question Inner City Press asked him if Next SG campaign finance disclosure should now be required. He answered another question, saying that nothing could require candidates' resources to be equal. What about public financing or matching funds? And what disclosure? We'll have more on this.

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Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.