The Australian
Support grows for Goh in UN race
David Nason, New York correspondent
July 20, 2006
MOVES to have former Singaporean prime minister Goh Chok Tong
succeed Kofi Annan as UN secretary-general are gathering momentum
in New York as the Security Council prepares to hold an informal
"straw poll" for the candidates later this week.
The vote, tentatively scheduled for tomorrow, will gauge the level
of early support for the four officially declared Asian region
candidates - former UN undersecretary-general for disarmament
affairs Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka; UN undersecretary-general
for public information Shashi Tharoor of India; Thailand's Deputy
Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai; and South Korean Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-moon.
But the vote won't preclude other candidates coming forward before
the Security Council's final recommendation is made in September or
October and speculation continues to surround Mr Goh, who is
believed to have significant support among the nations of the
Non-Aligned Movement.
So far, Mr Goh has given no indication of his intentions and, for
now at least, is hamstrung by the fact that Dr Surakiart has been
nominated by ASEAN, the Southeast Asian regional bloc that includes
Singapore.
But if Dr Surakiart does badly in the straw poll and withdraws from
the race, ASEAN would be free to propose another candidate.
However, Dr Surakiart has indicated to supporters that he intends
to stay in the contest no matter what the outcome of the straw
poll.
Mr Goh, an economist and social conservative known for his strong
views on multi-racialism, meritocracy and terrorism, was prime
minister of Singapore from 1990-2004.
In 2005, he was made an honorary Companion to the Order of
Australia by John Howard for services to Australian-Singaporean
relations.
A spokesman for Pakistan's influential UN ambassador, Munir Akram,
confirmed NAM's interest in Mr Goh and said the group "wants to
have its own position" on the new secretary-general, even though
the selection process is controlled by the Security Council.
He said Mr Goh was being discussed as part of NAM's enduring
concerns for "General Assembly revitalisation".
The straw poll will be a secret ballot of the 15-member council
that comprises permanent members Britain, France, Russia, China and
the US, and 10 non-permanent members -- Argentina, Denmark, Greece,
Japan, Tanzania, Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and the Slovak
Republic.
It is designed to test the water and create conditions for
unpopular nominees to withdraw and new nominees to enter the
contest. The ballot paper will allow the council members to
indicate either "encouragement", "discouragement" or "no opinion"
on each of the four candidates.
Each candidate will be told his own score and the top and bottom
scores, but how each nation voted will remain a secret.
The process for selecting a new secretary-general involves the
Security Council reviewing the nominations and forwarding a
recommendation to the General Assembly, which then rubber-stamps
the decision.
Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the successful nominee must
receive at least nine votes and not be subject to a veto by any of
the permanent five nations that, in reality, dominate the process.
China is expected to be the main player this time around because of
the regional rotation system that decrees the next
secretary-general must come from Asia.
At this stage none of the four nominated candidates has emerged a
clear favorite, raising speculation that Mr Annan's successor is
yet to enter the race.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19848296-2703,00.html
