Ban Ki-Moon, the frontrunner in the race to become the next United Nations secretary general, defended himself on Thursday against accusations that he was too weak to hold the post.
The South Korean foreign minister was top in the first two straw polls held at the UN Security Council but there was unease among diplomats at the UN and around the world that he might not be forceful enough to restore the organisation’s battered reputation. Ban, talking to the Associated Press news agency, acknowledged he had heard the criticism but insisted posts he had held in South Korea had prepared him. ”The position of foreign minister of the Republic of Korea is a very challenging job,” he said.
A third poll of the 15-member security council was scheduled for Thursday night and a fourth on Monday. In the theory, the next secretary general could be agreed in the next few weeks but some diplomats hope a candidate with more international stature could still come forward.
Kofi Annan, the present Secretary General, is due to leave his post on December 31, after 10 years. The job carries a salary of $275 000 a year, and perks that range from accommodation near the UN headquarters in Manhattan to a hospitality allowance of $25 000.
Ban, promoting his own case, said he had been a diplomat for almost four decades, dealing with many complex issues, the most recent of which had been the North Korea nuclear weapons negotiations, though these, at present, are stalled. He added: ”I can also offer the collective wisdom and experience of the Republic of Korea, which has risen from the devastation of war to the 11th largest world economy and also full-fledged democracy from authoritarian military rule.”
Although the US said on Thursday it wanted the selection process finished by the end of October, Britain sees no need to rush the process.
In the Security Council’s straw polls, members are asked to select from the options ”encourage”, ”not encourge”, or ”no view”. In the first two polls and again last night, the council members cast their votes, but on Monday the votes of the permanent members of the council, who have a veto, will be recorded: a no vote from such a member would effectively end a candidate’s chances.
The other candidates are India’s Shashi Tharoor, Surakiart Sathirathai (Thailand’s former deputy prime minister), Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein (Jordan’s UN ambassador), Sri Lanka’s Jayantha Dhanapala, (a former UN under-secretary general), Ashraf Ghani, (a former Afghan finance minister), and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, (Latvia’s president). – Guardian Unlimited Â