The 53-member African Group at the United Nations has formally expressed its collective support for an Asian as the next secretary-general of the world body.

In a letter to the 54-member Asian Group, Ambassador Joe Robert Pemagbi of Sierra Leone, chairman of the African Group, says his group has decided “to support the request that the next UN secretary-general be selected from an Asian country”. The African Group’s decision “is consistent with the principle of reciprocity and understanding which exists between the two groups”, the letter said.

So far, the three Asian candidates are Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former UN under-secretary-general for disarmament affairs; Thai Deputy PM Surakiart Sathirathai; and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon. A fourth potential candidate is East Timorese Foreign Minister and Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta.

Both China and Russia, two veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, have indicated their support for an Asian as the next secretary-general. “Asians haven’t taken the post for 35 years,” says Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry. “We think the next secretary-general should be picked from Asia.”

Richard Holbrooke, a former US ambassador to the UN, said: “A lot of people have thrown up a lot of names, but in the real world the fact that the Asians have not had a secretary-general since U Thant (of Myanmar) is of tremendous importance to China, and China will make sure it happens.”

Kofi Annan, who is from Ghana, is serving as UN chief since January 1997 and will end his two-term, 10-year tenure, in December. When the African Group decided to support Annan for a second five-year term in June 2001, the Asian Group supported that decision, even though it was Asia’s turn to field a candidate. “When the African Group wanted a second term, we held back our candidates, thereby ensuring Annan’s second, five-year term,” a South Asian diplomat said.

When the Security Council remained deadlocked in 1950 over an additional five-year term to then Secretary-General Trygve Lie, the General Assembly stepped in to extend his term, without the Council’s recommendation. This was an exceptional case but has assumed relevance in the tug-of-war between the Security Council and the General Assembly, prompted by the actions of US Ambassador John Bolton, who held the rotating presidency of the Council in February. Despite protests by the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Bolton held two Council meetings, one on a UN audit report on procurement and management, and the other on sexual exploitation in UN peacekeeping. Both subjects were considered within the purview of the General Assembly, not the Security Council.

With five permanent members — the US, Britain, France, China and Russia — the Security Council has always taken the lead in the selection process for the secretary-general.

In 1996, the US displayed its veto power by casting the only negative vote against a second term for Boutros Boutros-Ghali, despite the fact that the remaining 14 members of the Security Council voted for the Egyptian. Even an overwhelming majority did not save Boutros-Ghali because of a single veto. — IPS