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Ban Ki-moon of South Korea
The United Nations was established in 1945, the UN Charter described the secretary-general broadly as the "chief administrative officer." Secretary-generals usually come from countries considered small- to medium-sized neutral powers, are career diplomats, and serve no more than two five-year terms. Regional rotation is observed, with nationals of the five permanent members of the Security Council--the United States, China, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom--ineligible… |
U.N. General Assembly Meeting
U.N. General
Assembly Meeting World leaders delivered speeches before the United Nations
General Assembly. Their remarks followed a speech by President Obama, who
called on member countries to support the coalition against Islamic State
militants and to fight homegrown extremism…
The Secretary themselves will carry out all these duties and may also take a ... report of the organisation's activities for the year, for the Annual General Meeting...
What is likely to be the
future focus of the UN secretary-general?
Kofi Annan, for example, considered an activist, "world moderator"-style secretary-general, won a Nobel Prize for encouraging global cooperation on peace, but he was criticized for his management of the UN's Oil for Food program in Iraq and other issues. His successor, Ban Ki-moon, more of an administrator by temperament, has been regarded as less than successful (Economist) in pushing forward his agendas on climate change and ending global poverty. What does appear to be constant is the ambiguous nature of the secretary-general position itself--a role bifurcated between the tasks of "secretary" and "general."
Kofi Annan, for example, considered an activist, "world moderator"-style secretary-general, won a Nobel Prize for encouraging global cooperation on peace, but he was criticized for his management of the UN's Oil for Food program in Iraq and other issues. His successor, Ban Ki-moon, more of an administrator by temperament, has been regarded as less than successful (Economist) in pushing forward his agendas on climate change and ending global poverty. What does appear to be constant is the ambiguous nature of the secretary-general position itself--a role bifurcated between the tasks of "secretary" and "general."
At
the time the United Nations was established in 1945, the UN Charter described
the secretary-general broadly as the "chief administrative officer."
Beyond that, the type of leader needed, how to select the candidate, and the
person's length of tenure were left open to interpretation,
writes Brian Urquhart, former undersecretary-general, in an article for Foreign Affairs. The UN website stipulates that the
secretary-general be "equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO."
These guidelines also require that the secretary-general uphold the values of
the UN, even at the risk of challenging member states. In the book Secretary or General, Simon Chesterman and Thomas M.
Franck say the person in the post is sometimes treated as "an errand boy
and punching bag," expected to be at once an independent political force
and a public servant.
Despite
the broad and vague requirements of the job, some informal norms are observed
in appointments for the post. Secretary-generals usually
come from countries considered small- to medium-sized neutral powers, are
career diplomats, and serve no more than two five-year terms. Regional rotation
is observed, with nationals of the five permanent members of the Security
Council - the United States, China, Russia, France, and the United
Kingdom--ineligible…
The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson
and leader of the United Nations. Their role is laid out by Chapter XV
(Articles 97 to 101) of the United Nations Charter. The current
Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who took office on 1
January 2007.
The
current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who took office on 1 January
2007. His first term expired on 31 December 2011. He was re-elected, unopposed,
to a second term on 21 June 2011. His
successor will be appointed by the General Assembly in 2016…
President Lykketoft has committed to running his
Presidency in the most open and transparent manner possible. This also applies
to the process of selecting and appointing the next United Nations
Secretary-General.
The
position of Secretary-General is one of great importance that requires the
highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, and a firm
commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
The President of the General Assembly and of the Security Council invite
candidates to be presented with proven leadership and managerial abilities,
extensive experience in international relations, and strong diplomatic,
communication and multilingual skills.
Member
States are invited to present candidates in a letter to the President of the
General Assembly and the President of the Security Council.
The
Presidents of the General Assembly and of the Security Council will jointly
circulate to all Member States, on an ongoing basis, and publish on this
webpage, the names of individuals that have been submitted for consideration…
21
July 2016 – Following its first-ever private discussions with the candidates
vying forselection as the next United Nations
Secretary-General, the UN Security Council today conducted the first round of
informal polls on those seeking the world’s top diplomatic post.
The current Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is the
eighth occupant of the Organization's 70-year history. He took office in
January 2007 and will be ending his 10-year tenure on 31 December 2016. Under
the UN Charter, the Organization’s top official is appointed by the General
Assembly on the recommendation of the Council.
Speaking to reporters at the UN Headquarters this
morning, Ambassador Koro Bessho of Japan, which holds the Council’s presidency
for July, confirmed that the first round of the so called ‘straw polls’ had
taken place, and each candidate would be informed of the results through his or
her country’s permanent representative to the UN. He also noted that he had
informed that the President of the UN General Assembly that the vote had taken
place.
He said that the straw poll is “an indicative vote –
to inform the candidates where they stand in the race, and to inform the
Council members how the race might go from here.”
The straw poll followed a series of closed-door
meetings in which each of the 12 official candidates, who have been nominated
by their governments, was introduced to the Council members.
Yesterday, Mr. Bessho said this is the first time the
Council had held such informal meetings with each of the candidates for the
next UN chief. The Council met three candidates in June and the rest in July.
He has said that the results of the polls would not be made public. “We would
like to make sure that the fairness and confidentiality of voting is respected,”
he said…
The Hill (blog)-5 hours ago
As UN Security
Council members deliberate on who will be the next SecretaryGeneral in
advance of the next straw poll on August 29th, ...
CCTV-America-22 hours ago
... the next Secretary-General of
the United Nations is now well underway. ... CCTV America's
Liling Tan reports from the United Nations in New ...
UN News Centre-Aug 24, 2016
24 August 2016 – United
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today released a follow-up note
to the 2015 report of an Independent Panel of Experts that ...
MercoPress-13 hours ago
Argentine foreign minister Susana
Malcorra visited Cairo courting Egyptian support for her bid to become the next UN
secretary-general, ...
SLBC-14 hours
ago
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will arrive in Sri Lanka on Wednesday ... On Wednesday
evening, the UN Chief is scheduled to meet with ...
Prime Minister of Canada (press
release)-Aug 18, 2016
Prime Minister Trudeau and Secretary-General Ban
discussed the importance of building momentum towards the entry into force of
the Paris ...
The Right Man,
or Woman, For the Job
The next United Nations
secretary-general should not only be able to lead but to wield enough clout to
make a global difference.
THE race is on. The candidates have all spoken at one time
or the other. Now it’s the twilight period when everyone goes home to mull over
their choices before they make their final decision.
Yes, there is a race to the White
House this year. We can’t help but notice the news about the candidates for the
next president of the United States.
But in a small corner of the United
States, in a race that is perhaps of no less gargantuan proportions, is the
selection of the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
The present secretary-general, South
Korean Ban Ki-moon, will have finished his term as the head of the world
organisation by Dec 31. And so a successor must be found to fill those big
shoes.
Even before Ban announced his
intention to step down, bets were already taken on who would take over. So many
names made it onto the rumour mill. But in the end, only 12 were formally
nominated by their governments as candidates for that most prestigious of
posts.
The UN Charter makes no specific
mention of how the secretary-general should be chosen. Article 97 only says
that it is the General Assembly which shall appoint the secretary-general, upon
the recommendation of the Security Council, but not what the modality of the
appointment shall be.
That Malaysia is now in the Security
Council, and is only one of 15 countries from a total of 193 countries which
have an inside scoop on the process, makes this particular selection process
all the more interesting.
Unlike the selection of the
secretaries-general before this, this year’s process is meant to be more
transparent. For one, we all know who the candidates are – all 12 of them.
Secondly, member states had the
opportunity of at least one session where the candidate outlined his or her
vision for the future, and explained positions taken in the past.
Who are these candidates? Most of the
candidates are well-known, including a few with whom I have had the pleasure of
working. Antonio Guterres, the favourite to succeed Ban, is a familiar face.
For 10 years, this former Portuguese
prime minister was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and became the
world’s most outspoken critic of the refugee crisis.
No less impressive are the three
female candidates for the post. Irina Bokova, from Bulgaria, has been the
director-general of Unesco since 2009. She is widely favoured because of her
eastern European lineage and the fact that many believe it is high time that
the UN is placed in the hands of a woman.
Susana Malcorra was formerly Ban’s
chef de cabinet at the UN, after her stint as UN undersecretary-general for
field operations. She is currently the Argentinian minister of foreign affairs.
From our side of the world we have
Helen Clarke, who was formerly prime minister of New Zealand and is now the
head of the UN Development Programme.
These are the people who are familiar
to many in the UN because of the posts they hold within the UN itself. Then
there are the other candidates who are no less familiar because they, too, have
been active within the UN system.
Macedonian Srgjan Kerim was president
of the UN General Assembly in one of the years that I was there. He was well
thought of in his capacity as president, and former foreign minister of his
country.
I saw Vuk Jeremic when he first made
an appearance at the UN. I remember his stoic face that year because there were
statements made at the General Assembly against Serbia, and he was then one of
the youngest foreign ministers I knew. He went on to become president of the
General Assembly as well, and became quite adept at negotiating and finding
common ground.
Thus far, two straw polls have been
held at the Security Council. Each member of the Security Council had to
indicate whether it would “encourage” or “discourage” the nomination of the
candidate by the Security Council. A third option that was given to states was
to “have no opinion” on the candidate.
In order to be chosen, the candidate
must receive a majority of the 15 “encourage” votes, with no “discourage” vote
cast by the Permanent Five members.
When Ban was elected in 2005, he
received 14 votes to “encourage” him to run, and one vote which had “no
opinion”. No vote was cast to “discourage” his candidature, and therefore his
name was put forward to the General Assembly for confirmation.
On Aug 5, I understood that the
second straw poll showed Guterres still the front-runner with 11 “encourage”,
two “discourage”, and two “no opinion”.
It is not clear how Russia voted in
this second round. In the first round, Russia was speculated to have cast a “no
opinion” vote for Guterres, making it possible for Guterres to potentially be
nominated as secretary-general.
Regardless of the geographical factor
(it should be eastern Europe’s turn) and the preference for a woman in the
seat, these are mere considerations in the choice of a secretary-general, and
not strict criteria to be observed.
As many in the diplomatic circle have
said, the most important consideration is the ability of the candidate to not
only lead but to wield enough clout to make a global difference.
I understand that the next straw poll
is scheduled before the end of the month, if all goes well. Straw poll hype
aside, these polls are merely an indication of the level of support, and do not
bind the Security Council.
For Malaysia, the choice is simple.
We need a secretary-general who is independent from both poles of the great
power equation, and someone who has the interest of the whole international
community at heart, rather than just a few – those powerful states that hold
the purse-strings of the UN.
Tan Sri Hamidon Ali, a career
diplomat of 40 years standing, was Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to the
United Nations in New York from 2005 to 2011. The views expressed here are
entirely the writer’s own.
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