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August 16, 2006
Search for Annan's successor begins

FIVE months into the end of Mr. Kofi Annan's two-term of 10 years as United Nations (UN) secretary-general, the world has initiated a search for his successor.

From Laolu Akande, New York

Among the candidates eyeing the office, an insider, Dr. Shashi Tharoor of India, is said to be enjoying the support of member-nations, especially diplomats from Africa.

Tharoor is the current UN Under Secretary-General for Communication and Public Information. He has spent 28 years with the UN system.

Already, the UN Security Council, mandated to nominate a candidate for the office of secretary-general to the General Assembly for ratification late last month, conducted its first straw poll with the candidates who have shown interest in the office.

Due to an unwritten understanding among diplomats at the UN, Asia is expected to provide the next UN scribe, after two Africans have held the office in the last 15 years.

The candidates that took part in the straw poll besides Tharoor, all from the Asian continent, are the Foreign Affairs Minister of South Korea, Ban Ki-Moon; Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai; and former UN Under Secretary-General for Disarmament, Jayantha Dhanapala from Sri Lanka.

All candidates must secure an endorsement from their government before they can stand for election as the world's number one public servant.

Before last month's straw poll, Tharoor's chances were considered more unlikely because he joined the race late. He got the endorsement of his country and started campaigning a month to the first straw poll. But Tharoor beat bookmakers when he came second at the poll, coming after South Korea's Ban Ki-Moon, who led in the first unofficial poll.

In the straw poll, the council members have one of three options to vote: "encourage," "discourage" and "no opinion."

The report of the straw poll yet to be made public showed that South Korea's candidate, Ban, got 12 encourage votes, one discourage and two no opinions.

Tharoor, who came second, received 10 encourage, two discourage and three no opinions while Thailand's Sathirathai recorded seven encourage, three discourage and five no opinions. Sri Lanka's Dhanapala had five encourage, six discourage and four no opinions.

To win all poll, a candidate must have at least nine council votes without a veto, since the five permanent members of the Security Council can exercise their vetoes against any candidate. Such a veto when exercised simply terminates the ambition of the candidate. But for the purpose of the straw votes, no vetoes are used since it is just an informal test from which candidates can review their candidacies. Since the July straw poll, none of the candidates has stepped down.

The President of Security Council for the month of August (the presidency rotates among the five-member Council monthly), Ghana's Nana Effah-Apenteng told The Guardian at a recent press briefing that another straw poll, if decided upon by the Council, might take place this month.

According to Effah-Apenteng, the Security Council had decided in February to review the selection process for picking the next secretary-general every month, until a nomination was made. He added that since the Council had started with the straw poll last month, he expected that the body would do something about the selection of the UN helmsman this month.

There are also expectations that new candidates may enter the race, but the Security Council members are said to be desirous of reaching a conclusion on the matter before the next General Assembly meeting of the UN to give the new secretary-general enough time for transition.

When The Guardian interviewed the outgoing secretary-general, Annan in May, he was asked about the issue of his successor and how the fact that he was the first Secretary-General to come from inside the UN affected his job?

Annan had said: "Coming from the system, I knew it well and it was fortunate that I knew the system. When I was appointed, because I was appointed on the 13th of December, I had less than two weeks to take over. If I had come completely from the outside, it would have been extremely difficult and I hope this would not happen to my successor. And I think the knowledge that I had of the organisation was extremely helpful."

Asked specifically if he expected his successor to also be an insider, Annan observed that "most of the candidates who have emerged are from outside the organisation and if the trend continues, it is definitely going to be an outsider."

At that time, Tharoor, who came to global limelight when Annan asked him to lead in the interim a troubled Department of Public Information in 2001, had not joined the race.

The Guardian spoke to Tharoor, but could not reach the other candidates because many of them are not permanently based in the U.S.

Tharoor, 50, a famous Indian writer and a UN veteran, said his performance at the first straw poll was no occasion to rest, "considering that some of the other candidates have been to capitals of the Council members twice already." But he attributed his better-than-expected performance at the poll to "my long record with the UN, I am a known person with a professional reputation."

He said he has seen the UN from inside and ground-up and is well aware of the important challenges facing the organisation.

At the last African Union (AU) summit in Banjul, Gambia, all the four candidates were present and given a chance to address the continental body.

Nigeria's Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the UN, Alhaji Aminu Wali, said that Tharoor spoke very well and got a generous applause.

Wali added that Tharoor "is an eloquent speaker anyday." He, however, added that even though Tharoor has the support of African countries, Africa's main concern in the election is that it is the turn of Asia, "so Africa supports Asia's bid for the office."

But Tharoor's critics among the African diplomatic community say there is concern that the Africa Section under the Department of Public Information, DPI, that he leads has only one or two African reporters and is led by a sectional head who has been accused of being a racist.

Other UN sources said Tharoor has tried to replace the head of the section after an investigation of charges, but no other unit in the department was willing to accept her. A top African diplomat confirmed this but wondered why Africa should be the dumping ground for such people.

In his response, the Indian aspirant said it is to his credit that he has brought 18 new Africans to work at the UN in few years because he believed that the UN must reflect the diversity of the world. He expressed frustration at some of the personnel constraints that "I inherited."

Tharoor also pointed to the second in command at the Africa Section, who is also the editor of African Renewal, the leading UN publication on Africa, produced from the African Section of the DPI, as a well-liked individual who is regarded very positively even among Africans.

The last Asian to hold the office was U. Thant of Burma from 1961 to 1971. Under the unwritten convention of rotation, Asia's time has come 35 years after, following Africa, the Arab, Latin America and Europe.

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