Thai crisis complicates UN race

2006-09-21 14:15

United Nations - The coup against Thailand's prime minister definitely complicates the candidacy of his deputy to be the next UN secretary-general, China's UN ambassador said.

The race to succeed Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose second five-year term ends on December 31, is one of the hottest behind-the-scenes issues at the current ministerial session of the UN general assembly.

Thailand's deputy prime minister Surakiart Sathirathai was the first candidate to enter the race, and he won backing from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations at last year's general assembly ministerial meeting.

Coup

He was in New York with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra when the military launched a bloodless coup on Wednesday, and he reportedly flew to London with the prime minister on Thursday.

"The interim government has already said that they continue to back Dr Surakiart as the secretary-general," Sihasak Phuangketkeow, the Thai foreign ministry's deputy permanent secretary said after a meeting on the sidelines of the general assembly.

But China's UN ambassador Wang Guangya said "I think definitely the situation in Thailand makes this issue more complicated".

Rotating top job

Traditionally, the United Nation's top job rotates every 10 years by region. Africa - in theory - should have handed over the secretary-general's spacious office on the 38th floor of the UN secretariat building to Asia on January 1, 2002. But Annan was selected for a second term in 2001 - in part because Asia could not agree on a candidate - giving Africa an unprecedented 15 years at the helm of the world body.

When Annan was elected, African and Asian nations agreed that the next secretary-general should be Asian, though US ambassador John Bolton has said the job should go to the best-qualified candidate.

Seven candidates

There are currently seven candidates and more could emerge. The newest, Afghanistan's former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, officially entered the race on Wednesday when he was nominated by President Hamid Karzai.

The government said Ghani, the chancellor of Kabul University who spent 10 years working in China, India and Russia for the World Bank, "is uniquely equipped" to lead the UN when imagination and leadership are needed to promote security and development.

In addition to Surakiart, he will face South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon; Shashi Tharoor, the UN undersecretary-general for public affairs; Jordan's UN ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein; former UN disarmament chief Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka; and Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the only non-Asian.

Ban Ki-moon leads race

In an informal poll of the 15 security council members on Thursday - before Vike-Freiberga entered the race - South Korea's Ban came in first followed by India's Tharoor. Surakiat was third, with Jordan's Zeid fourth and Dhanapala fifth.

The secret poll is largely meant to indicate whether the candidates should remain in the race. Some diplomats say the person who will become the eighth secretary-general in the United Nations' 60-year history may not yet have come forward.

The council is expected to hold another straw poll on September 28, and members have to decide whether to indicate which countries are opposed to a candidate.

ASEAN continues to back Surakiart

Thailand's Sihasak said "ASEAN has indicated that they continue to back Dr Surakiart as the new secretary-general".

"I think the strength of Dr Surakiart is first of all his qualifications. Second Thailand, our country, has always played a moderating role in international affairs, a bridge builder. Dr Surakiart is a strong contender for that post," he said.

But some Asian diplomats said privately - even before the coup - that Surakiart should drop out because he stood little chance of winning the job. If he did, ASEAN could endorse a new candidate. Several names from Singapore and the Philippines have been floated.

- AP