At
UN,
Ban's Travails Trigger Candidacy Tales, De Mistura, Zeid, Kubis, Kerim
or even Bachelet or Bill Clinton, Game On
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 9 -- Alternate candidates to Ban Ki-moon are emerging
before the next UN Secretary General term begins on January 1, 2012.
Tellingly, even people given UN posts by Ban Ki-moon are among
reported candidates.
Ban
named Staffan
de Mistura as his
representative in Afghanistan, after de Mistura
hired Ban's
son in law Siddarth Chatterjee as his chief
of staff with
the UN in Iraq. (Ban's son in law has since been hired
by Jan
Mattsson as a high official of the UN Office of Project Services in
Copenhagen).
But,
people
recruited to work for the UN in Afghanistan tell Inner City Press, de
Mistura harbors the dream of swooping in as a dark horse candidate to
replace Ban in late 2011.
There
is “blood
in
the water,” these sources say, particularly following the
damning End of Assignment report of Inga Britt Ahlenius. Ban's “melt
down” then retraction on August 9 about job promises made in the
course of replacing Ahlenius won't help either.
The
problem for de
Mistura and other non-Asian contenders is that the S-G position is
said to belong to a regional group for at least 10 years.
When the
U.S. vetoed Egypt's Boutros Boutros Ghali in 2005, the post next went
to
another African. So it would be with Ban, the assumption goes, with
China demanding equal treatment for Asia.
But,
as Inner City
Press reported
some time ago, even Team Ban has a theory that the
U.S. might trade its de facto ownership of the top World Bank post to
China in exchange for the right to replace Ban with a S-G of its
choice.
De
Mistura, having
served as U.S. ground cover and fig leaf in Iraq and then
Afghanistan, feels he would have U.S. support. A long shot candidate
mentioned is Bill Clinton.
Others point to Jose Ramos Horta
of Timor
Leste, in the Asian group like another candidate, Zeid Bin Ra'ad of
Jordan.
UN's Ban and de Mistura: one bleary eyed with
lack of sleep, the other looking long
Lula
of Brazil
would appear to have lost U.S. support, given his country's vote
against the recent sanctions on Iran. Shashi Tharoor appears to have
shot himself in the foot with Cricket-gate.
More savvy,
some say, is Michelle Bachelet.
She is understood to have not leapt at the offer of the top UN Women
post. Does this mean that, like with the UNICEF post given to Tony
Lake, she is shooting higher? From those heights, at UNDP, Helen Clark is often mentioned.
There
are other
plotters. Some point to the alliance between Ms.
Ahlenius and Alicia
Barcena, who left the top UN Management post when Ban came in and
went to ECLAC in Santiago, Chile. She was in New York and dined
with
Ahlenius shortly before Ahlenius leaked her memo. Also involved,
sources say, was Barcena's Management predecessor Christopher
Burnham.
Next
in line, they
argue, are the Eastern European states. From 2006, there is Vaira Vike-Freiberga. Jan Kubis is
mentioned (Ban gave him a temporary post during the violence in
Kyrgyzstan), along with former General Assembly president Srgjan
Kerim, to whom Ban gave a Special Envoy on Climate Change UN
post. Do
you see a pattern here?
“There are
candidates galore, and there is blood in the water,” as one source
puts it. Let the games begin.
This all comes, as Inner City
Press first reported, against the backdrop of
ad hoc meetings to “revitalize the General Assembly” which are
discussing requiring Ban Ki-moon to come before the GA to seek his
second term, and not only the Security Council.
Specifically,
under
the
heading “Selection of the Secretary General,” the draft
“takes note of the views expressed at the Ad Hoc Working Group at
the 64th session and bearing in mind the provisions of Article 97 of
the Charter, emphasizes the need for the process of selection of the
Secretary General to be inclusive of all Member States and to be made
more transparent.. including through presentation of candidates for
the position of the Secretary General in an informal plenary of the
General Assembly.”
Interestingly,
the
marked
up draft of this pending paragraph reads as follows:
“10.
Affirms its commitment to continuing its consideration of the
revitalization of the General Assembly's role in the selection and
appointment of the Secretary General, including through (encouraging
(Algeria / NAM: delete and add 'the') Russian Federation: retain)
presentation of candidates for the position of Secretary General in
an informal plenary of the General Assembly before the Security
Council considers the matter (Russian Federation); Russian
Federation: bracket entire para.”
10
Alt.
Also
encourages formal presentation of candidatures for the
position of the Secretary General in a manner than allows sufficient
time for interaction with member states, and requests candidates to
present their views to all Member States of the General Assembly
(Belgium / EU, US & Russia) (Algeria / NAM supports Islamic
Republic of Iran proposal of retaining as OP 10 bis).”
In
the Security
Council, placating or giving patronage to the five Permanent Members
would be enough to gain the second term. But if the GA and regional
grouping get involved, Ban's snubs like that of Africa for the deputy
post in the UN Development Program, and the devaluation of the Office
of the Special Adviser on Africa, could come back to haunt Ban, along
with his more recent appointment of Alvaro Uribe to his Gaza flotilla
panel, over the objections of Venezuela which wil head the Group of 77
and China. Watch
this site.
* * *
For
UN,
Is
Merely Being There Enough, with Ban Under Fire for a 2d Term?
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July
26 -- What has Ban Ki-moon accomplished as UN Secretary
General in Myanmar and Sudan, Inner City Press asked his spokesman
Monday, for the fourth day in a week.
“His record is
clear,” Spokesman Martin Nesirky replied. “From standing in front
of a still burning warehouse in Gaza, to visiting Haiti five days
after the earthquake, to visiting Darfur refugee camps... he has
achieved a huge amount.” Video here,
from
Minute 26:55.
But
the three
achievements listed were only “being there” -- celebrities have
traveled to Haiti, and to refugee camps in Darfur and elsewhere.
Meanwhile
reports on the UN's performance in Sudan are largely negative. Rubble
still fills Haiti's streets. And even the Goldstone response is late,
due to failure to translate. Myanmar, telling, was not even mentioned.
Is being there enough?
Seeking
the
Ban
Administration's -- if not yet Ban Ki-moon's -- response to the
criticism being heaped upon his tenure, Inner City Press asked
Nesirky when he made a piece by a heretofore big UN supporter, “Good
Night, Ban Ki-moon.”
“We don't need
to comment on every piece,” Nesirky said, calling that piece a
“rehash.. a lot of what is in the piece has been seen before.” A
lot by not all: the piece mentions inaction on Sri Lanka:
“A
peacekeeping official pointed out that Ban had insisted on
behind-the-scenes diplomacy in Sri Lanka even as the government was
killing thousands of civilians in its campaign to erase the brutal
insurgency of the Tamil Tigers: "We're doing everything we can
to avoid saying anything at all about it. That's been our line on
practically everything. The SG is clear that his final consideration
is going to be the political costs of whether he should or shouldn't
speak." That's a very real calculation every secretary-general
must make. But, he added, "There's no sense that the
deliberations include, 'What should we do?'"”
Only
this
year, Ban
after saying he would name a panel of experts on war crimes in Sri
Lanka, then delaying 90 days, has gone out of his way to limit the
scope of the panel to providing advice on “models of
accountability” to himself and the Rajapaksa government, if they
want it. The Rajapaksas have said they will deny visas to the group;
Ban through Nesirky has repeated declined to comment on the refusal
to cooperate.
UN's Ban on plane: he was there, cracked
windshield and direct responses not shown
Now
a brewing
fight is Ban's decision to bypass South African and other developing
world candidates to nominate a Canadian, Carman Lapoint-Young, as the
new head of the Office of Internal Oversight Services. Inner City
Press, which reported
exclusively on the move on the night of July
23, asked Nesirky for Ban's response to developing world countries
who say the post was meant for their regions.
Nesirky
once
again
declined comment, except to say there is “very strong, overwhelming
support” for the nominee. Sort of like the overwhelming support for
a second term?
It
is time for Ban
Ki-moon to speak for himself on this controversy -- time for him to
“be there,” as it were. He will appear before the press Monday at
5:30. Before his appearance Friday at a reception for the press,
Inner City Press was repeatedly told not to ask about the
controversy, not to “hijack” the event. That cannot similarly be
asked on Monday evening. Watch this site.
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