confidentially speaking
The Africa Confidential Blog
Election race for UN Chief
Blue Lines
As the campaign for the next Secretary General of the United Nations
heats up, the career of Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, who died on 16 February,
should prove instructive. The Egyptian
who held the UN’s top job in
1992-96 was one of the most experienced diplomats to have held the post. That counted for nothing once Boutros had quarrelled with
Washington, which vetoed his second term, and he became known in Africa
as the UN chief who withdrew peacekeepers from Rwanda as the
genocidaires started the
killing.
For this year's UN election, an impressive list of candidates is
emerging: two Bulgarians, Kristalina Georgieva (Budget
Commissioner at
the European Union) and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova (favoured
by Russian President Vladimir Putin); the UNDP
Administrator, New
Zealand's former Prime Minister Helen
Clark and Susana Malcorra,
Argentina's new Foreign
Minister.
In the spirit of regional alternance, it is meant to be Eastern
Europe's turn to hold the post and there is strong support for the UN,
at last, to appoint a female SG.
Some are pressing German
Chancellor Angela Merkel to
run. Not
only can she match the other contenders' experience, she has the
influence to get deals done. Incumbent Ban
Ki-moon came to the SG's
office a decade ago pledging to focus all his efforts on ending the
mass slaughter in Darfur. As Khartoum blocked his moves, a new wave of
conflict in the Middle East further diluted his efforts.