By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 24 --
In the run up
to the
December 24
budget
showdown at
the UN,
diplomats
worked until
six in the
morning, on
issues ranging
from the 2016
budget to the
first
performance
report.
But past 6 pm
on December 24
-- Christmas
Eve -- with a
whimper rather
than a bang,
except of the
gavel, the
deadline was
extended for a
week, until
New Years Eve.
The decision
was made by
and for the
General
Assembly as a
whole, chaired
in Conference
Room 3 by a
representative
from Pakistan.
When the Fifth
(Budget)
Committee then
met, the US
immediately
proposed
suspending the
meet, under
Rule 118, to
allow more
time to
consult.
Quickly a vote
was called on
the US
proposal,
which passed
149 for, six
against and
one abstaining
(a big
surprise, on
Christmas
Eve.)
Earlier at 3
pm on December
24,the
outgoing head
of the Group
of 77,
Bolivia's
Sacha
Llorenti, told
G77
representatives
that the other
side said no
more talks
today.
In the hallway
outside
Conference
Room 1 where
G77 was
meeting, Inner
City Press
interview a
range of
diplomats and
UN Secretariat
officials
about another
issue --
rebellion by
some member
states at
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon's
policy
position -- or
"executive
order," as one
delegate
called it --
on same sex
marriage.
"Between the
OIC and
African
countries,
it's going
down," one
Permanent
Representative
told Inner
City Press.
The other side
says that Ban
has the power
to "just do
it." But, even
the person
making this
argument
conceded,
Ban is no
Obama.
And, another
asked, where
IS Ban
Ki-moon, as
his policy is
"going down"
in the Fifth
Committee?
In the end, at
least for
December 24,
it seems to
have been the
US procedural
motion which
saved Ban
Ki-moon's
policy,
not Ban
himself. And
what will
happen on
that, as well
as on a
proposal to
make Yom
Kippur and
other days
into UN
holidays,
before New
Years Eve?
Watch this
site.
The
previous week,
a delegate
from Uruguay
urged the rest
of the Fifth
Committee of
the UN General
Assembly to do
everything
possible to
come to a
conclusion
before midday
on December
24. So much
for that.
On
December 23
when Inner
City Press
checked in
again with the
sprawled out
Fifth
Committee in
the UN's first
sub-basement,
along with
pizza boxes
and coffee
containers
with spouts
were an array
of still-open
items.
In
this session
the Fifth
Committee is
considering,
for example,
the proposed
program budget
outline for
the biennium
2016-17. On
this, amid
threats of
cut-backs, the
Group of 77
and China put
a resolution
into an “L
document” on
December 23,
leading to
protests from
diplomats from
Italy, Japan
and the US.
Diplomats
stayed
until 6 am on
December 24,
and returned
for a G77
meeting at 11
am, moved due
to its size
from
Conference
Room 9 to CR
1. Bolivia's
Permanent
Representative
Sacha
Llorenti, soon
to turn over
the G77 gavel
to South
Africa,
reported back
to G77
Ambassador
where things
stood.
For
now, the Fifth
Committee
“plenary” is
not set until
3 pm, with the
full General
Assembly with
no time set at
all.
Other
items include
the Capital
Master Plan,
the
Extraordinary
Chambers court
in Cambodia, revised
estimates for
the Ebola
mission UNMEER
and for the Human
Rights Council
(regarding
cut-backs at
which, see
this Inner
City Press
story) and
UNHQ long term
accommodation
needs,
otherwise
known as building
on a current
New York City
playground.
Another
item
concerns the
UN's UMOJA
system, with
cost overruns
and corruption
scandals. One
former UMOJA
official, Paul
van Essche who
was caught up
in a scandal
-- "PHP
irregularities,"
Inner City
Press exclusive
coverage here
-- now
announces
he'll
resurface as
UNICEF's chief
of information
technology in
January 2015.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
