Posted on 07/24/2006 9:48:46 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
THE United Nations Security Council has held its first secret straw poll on four Asian candidates vying to succeed Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian, as UN secretary general.
All four candidates to succeed Mr Annan, whose second five-year term expires at the end of the year, are Asian as the consensus at the UN is that it is now Asia's turn to assume the world body's top job in line with an unwritten rule of regional rotation.
The candidates are South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, and India's Shashi Tharoor, a UN undersecretary in charge of communications.
The council's 15 members were presented with three choices in the secret ballot: encourage, discourage, and no opinion.
Ambassadors of the four countries which fielded candidates were informed of the outcome but there was no official announcement on the results.
"The reason we decided not to make the results public was so that the individual candidates could draw their own conclusions," US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said.
"We will see if they draw any conclusion one way or the other once they've had a chance to consider these results."
Mr Bolton said the ballot was significant in two key respects:
One was the fact that it was held so early in the year, with the goal of making a final decision at the end of September or early October.
The second was precisely that it might now lead to a decision "either for additional candidates to enter the race or for one or more candidates in the race to drop out based on their own assessment of how the vote went".
Under UN Charter rules, the secretary general is elected by the 192-member General Assembly under recommendation from the Security Council, whose five permanent members – the US, China, France, Britain and Russia – have veto power.
In practice, the five permanent members have dominated the secretary general succession process.
Mr Bolton meanwhile noted that with all the talk of regional rotation, it was "striking there's so little talk of gender rotation".
"We've had one gender (in charge of the UN for 60 years). Maybe people ought to consider that as well," he said.
OK, I just lost my breakfast on that one.
Thanks a rot!
In related news, former President Bill Clinton has announced a change of residence to Hong Kong...
Bolton!
Didn't I read somewhere recently that our x pres clinton wanted this job? I never could understand why, unless it was to get away from the other 'half'.... or to have a bedroom of beauties to choose from, from all over the world....
Last I heard, didn't he have one in Canada somewhere?
Given these are our choices, India's guy seems the best choice. Especially given our developing relationship with them to counter China in the region.
Easier to answer is where he doesn't have one!
Well now I never thought about that, but that is alot better answer....LOLOLOL
Why Asian? Why not Hugo Chavez?
He would be a great choice. I can see heads spinning now.. LOL
He needs to be leading Israel. Binyamin Netanyahu is the closest Israel has to Ronaldus Magnus.
It is very important that we veto Shashi Tharoor. This guy is a left wing looney. He isnt Kofi Annan's deputy for nothing.
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