On
Eve of Vote,
Carr Skips
UNSC, Cambodia
Fires at NYT,
Rwanda and
Hege
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 17 --
On the eve of
UN Security
Council
elections,
several last
minute pitches
were made,
documents
leaked,
responses
made or
ignored.
In
the Western
European and
Other states
Group, in
which Finland,
Australia and
Luxembourg vie
for two seats,
Finland's
foreign
minister Erkki
Tuomioja met
at 4:30 pm
with Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, his
chief of staff
Susana
Malcorra and
chief
political
adviser
Jeffrey
Feltman.
Finnish
Permanent
Representative
Jarmo Viinanen
on October 16
told Inner
City
Press his country
has 165
commitments.
They are also
preparing bags
of dried
blueberries
for
distribution.
Inner
City Press
covered the
Finnish photo
op and while
waiting to go
up to
the North
Lawn's third
story spotted
Australia's
foreign
minister Bob
Carr cutting
through the
lobby.
Unlike his
counterparts
from
Luxembourg and
Finland, he
did not speak
at the day's
Rule of Law
debate in the
Security
Council. Nor
was he listed
on Ban
Ki-moon's
schedule. But
he was working
it.
Australian
Permanent
Representative
Gary Quinlan
told Inner
City Press he has
162
commitments.
A
well placed
diplomat,
speaking
exclusively to
Inner City
Press on
October 17,
mused that
Australia is
"far from
Africa," but
is high
profile in
disarmament,
important to
the Continent.
"There's
little
exchange of
support with
Africa," he
said, "they
always have
clean slates.
So it's about
putting in a
factory, or
even
just a
football
pitch."
He
went on to the
next WEOG
election, in
which New
Zealand is
slated to
face off with
Spain and
Turkey. "This
is bad for New
Zealand,"
he said, "if
Australia gets
on, there's no
way New
Zealand will.
And if
Australia
loses, how
could New
Zealand win?"
New Zealand's
Permanent
Representative,
in the
Security
Council on
Wednesday,
joined Brazil
in question
the "carve-outs"
from referrals
to the
International
Criminal
Court, used by
the United
States in the
Libya
referral.
What
Ban's
spokesman
called the
leaking of the
report of the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
Group of
Experts
led by Steve
Hege was
widely
seen as a
"dirty trick,"
as two
diplomats from
different
continents put
it. But still
no alternative
candidate
stepped
forward in the
African Group.
Likewise
Argentina is
unopposed in
GRULAC.
The
New York Times
ran an op-ed
against
Cambodia,
running
against South
Korea and
Bhutan for a
single seat; Cambodia
responded
with a letter
to the editor
which we
will put
online here.
It
seems an
opportune time
to also
highlight and
link to a
recent study
of how various
Security
Council reform
proposals
would impact
the
chances of
particularly
countries to
serve on the
Council -- click
here for
that,
"Platform for
Change." Watch
this site.
, 
