South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon has emerged as the
clear favorite to succeed Kofi Annan as secretary general after
winning his third informal straw poll in the Security Council.
The 62-year-old career diplomat finished ahead of India's Shashi
Tharoor, a UN undersecretary general for communications and public
information, and Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the only
woman in the seven-member field.
Tharoor had already finished second in the first two polls.
It was an honorable performance for Vike-Freiberga, who along
with Afghanistan's former finance minister Ashraf Ghani did not
take part in the two previous informal polls held in July and
September 14.
Ban thus consolidated his front-runner status in the race to
succeed Annan when the Ghanaian secretary general steps down at the
end of December after 10 years in office.
Returning to Seoul on Friday after attending the UN General
Assembly in New York, Ban expressed caution about his prospects of
being elected as the next UN secretary general.
"It is still too early to jump to a conclusion," the top South
Korean diplomat told reporters.
He received the outcome of the third straw poll upon his arrival
at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.
"I will wait with a humble heart for the results of the fourth
straw poll and the official election," Ban said.
As in the two previous rounds, the 15 council members, including
the five veto-wielding permanent members Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United States had the options in Thursday's round of
casting "encouraging," "discouraging" and "no opinion" ballots.
China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that Ban
received 13 encouraging, one negative and one "no opinion" votes,
compared with 8 positive, three negative and four "no opinion" for
Tharoor and seven positive, six negative and two "no opinion" for
Vike-freiberga, diplomats said.
But as Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin reiterated on Thursday,
the Latvian president will face a certain veto from Moscow which
has accused Riga of violating the rights of minority Russians
living in the Baltic state.
Trailing in Thursday's secret-ballot contest were Surakiart
Sathirathai, deputy prime minister of the ousted Thai government,
followed by Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, Jordan's UN
ambassador Prince Zeid al-Hussein and Ghani, the diplomats
added.
Another straw poll involving the seven candidates was scheduled
for Monday.
Diplomats said it would bring more clarity to the race as for
the first time differentiated colored ballot sheets will be used
for permanent and non-permanent members, which will make it
possible to determine whether a candidate faces opposition from a
veto-wielding member.
"At that point it is more clear and more fair to the
candidates," a Western diplomat said. "It will then be up to some
candidates to decide whether they should drop out."
A decisive win by Ban in Monday's contest would virtually doom
the chances of his rivals, although new candidates could
theoretically step forward.
The selection process accelerated as US Ambassador to the UN
John Bolton this week again urged the Council to agree on a
candidate by early October before its choice can be forwarded to
the 192-member General Assembly for endorsement.
Under the UN Charter, the secretary general is elected by the
192-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the council.
In practice, the five permanent members have dominated the
succession process.
Qatar's UN Ambassador Nassir al-Nasser told reporters that a
formal council vote could be held in the second or third week of
October.
There is a broad consensus in the world body that Annan must be
replaced by an Asian in line with an unwritten rule of geographic
rotation.
Asia has not held the post since U Thant, a Burmese, served from
1961-71.
Addressing a New York think tank on Wednesday, Ban said that if
elected, his priorities would be to turn the world body into a
leaner, more efficient and more accountable organization by
overhauling management practices and to rebuild trust among member
states and within the UN secretariat.
He also echoed Washington's demand for a more efficient use of
the UN's limited resources, saying: "We need to avoid redundancies
and maximize our strength so can we can deliver more."
Ban has spent 36 years in the South Korean foreign service,
including 10 years on United Nations-related missions.
He was South Korea's ambassador to the UN for two years from
2001 and also led the cabinet of the president of the 56th UN
General Assembly.
(China Daily September 30, 2006)
