Swedish diplomat proposes Tarja Halonen as UN Secretary-General 

April 5, 2006
Helsingin Sanomat
Original Source: http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Swedish+diplomat+proposes+Tarja+Halonen+as+UN+Secretary-General/1135219421060


Veteran Swedish diplomat Pierre Schori has proposed that Finnish President Tarja Halonen should replace Kofi Annan as the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
      
In a piece on the op-ed pages of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Schori said that the UN needs to have a woman at the helm. He also lists a number of women whom he sees as potential candidates.
      
Nevertheless, my own favourite is Tarja Halonen, a president, a resident of the Nordic region, and a fighter for human rights, Schori wrote. He added that he agrees with Kofi Annan, who has said that the time is right for a woman Secretary-General.
       
Pierre Schori is a veteran figure in Sweden’s Social Democratic Party, who matured into politics under Prime Minister Olof Palme. He has served in the Swedish Parliament, and had a ministerial post in the first government of Prime Minister Göran Persson. He also served one term in the European Parliament.
      
In 2000 Schori was named the Swedish Ambassador to the UN, and now he works as the Special Ambassador for Secretary General Annan in Ivory Coast.
      
Speculation about a new Secretary-General for the UN is now in full swing. According to the traditional practice of rotation, the next Secretary-General should come from Asia. However, as Schori sees it, now would be the right time to seek out a competent woman for the post, if the geographical criteria do not work out for some reason or another.
      
In addition to Halonen, Schori mentions a number of other possible women for the post, including New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, Canadian Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour, former Irish President Mary Robinson, and former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Bruntland.