New UN Secretary General chosen
At the United Nations, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon is poised to be elected the next Secretary General. He will replace the outgoing Kofi Annan.
Three more candidates withdrew on Thursday from the race to become U.N. secretary-general, leaving only South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon to face an official U.N. Security Council vote next week.
Ban said on Thursday he would use his UN mandate directly to tackle North Korea over its nuclear program. Amid the international uproar over Pyongyang’s threat this week to conduct a nuclear test, Mr Ban told the Financial Times he would visit North Korea in a bid to convince the rogue state to join diplomatic negotiations rather than indulge in “negative activities”.
Ban is known as a seasoned diplomat, who has so far only given general comments about what is likely to be his new job. Analysts say he faces a tough task overcoming political divisions between developing and developed countries and reorganizing the UN’s complex bureaucracy.
Ban was appointed foreign minister in January 2004.
“He is the hardest-working person at the ministry,” said one South Korean diplomat. “If you don’t count his personal aide who has to be at his residence at 5:30 in the morning.”
US Ambassador John Bolton said he expects Ban to concentrate on being the UN’s chief administrative officer, but the South Korean has already said he would appoint a deputy to do the day-to-day management and expected to travel frequently.
China had insisted that the next secretary-general come from Asia because of a tradition that rotates the post among regions of the world. The last Asian secretary-general was Burma’s U Thant, in office from 1961-71.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the only woman and non-Asian candidate, and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, both formally dropped out of the race in letters to the Security Council.
The 15 council members in an informal ballot on Monday gave South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon 14 favorable votes and one abstention in the competition to succeed Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose term expires on December 31.
Ghani said that he wanted to “convey my best wishes to the chosen candidate for bringing vision, leadership and determination for dealing with the critical challenges ahead.”
A successful contender needs nine votes in favor and no veto from the 15-member body’s permanent members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. Ban alone escaped a negative vote from any of the five in Monday’s poll.
On October 9, the council will vote formally and send Ban’s name to the 192-member U.N. General Assembly, which is expected to approve him later this month.
Jordan’s U.N. ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, withdrew on Wednesday, while Shashi Tharoor of India, the U.N. undersecretary-general for public information, pulled out shortly after Monday’s informal vote.
Tharoor was in second place with 10 positive votes but had a veto from one of the five permanent members.
Zeid’s candidacy produced a row between Jordan and Qatar, the only Arab member of the council. Jordan said Qatar had an agreement with Arab nations to vote for Zeid and admitted not doing so. Council members had been able to vote for as many contenders as they pleased.
Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former U.N. disarmament undersecretary-general, withdrew last week after a poor showing in the third informal poll.
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