Battle Over U.N. Reform Heats Up 
By The Associated Press
April 28, 2006
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-UN-Management.html

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Rich and poor nations battled Thursday over the fate of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's proposals to overhaul the United Nations, sharply divided on how much new authority to give him.
Looming over the debate was an implicit threat that some rich nations -- which contribute the vast majority of the U.N. budget -- might refuse to pay their dues this year if they do not get the reforms they seek. Such a move would throw the U.N. into a grave financial crisis.
The confrontation in the U.N. General Assembly's main budget committee underscored the bitter rivalry between wealthy and impoverished nations over the fate of Annan's demand for a management overhaul that would streamline U.N. operations, cut jobs and give him more budget authority.
Annan unveiled the ideas in March, six months after world leaders agreed at a summit that the U.N. system, created in the aftermath of World War II, was in urgent need of reform. Allegations of waste and fraud surrounding the Iraq oil-for-food program added new pressure for change.
In a morning meeting Thursday, a bloc of developing nations led by South Africa demanded action on a draft resolution that would essentially reject or put off some of Annan's key proposals. The United States, the European Union, Japan and other leading contributors were opposed.
Despite 20 years of tradition that says such decisions are made by consensus and without a vote, South Africa's bloc, known as the Group of 77 and China, was all but forcing an up-or-down decision on the issue. The group, which represents more than 130 nations, would almost certainly win such a vote because of their large numbers.
''We cannot accept some of the proposals from the secretary-general's report,'' said Pakistan's Ambassador Munir Akram, a member of the Group of 77. ''So far, there doesn't seem to be any possibility of agreement on those major issues so therefore it has to be decided by action.''
Later in the day, all sides agreed to continue discussions until Friday after Annan intervened with new proposals.
There seemed little room for compromise, however, with both sides saying it appeared likely they would return and vote on the issue on Friday.
Poor nations fear that Annan's proposals are an attempt by richer nations to wrest control of the U.N. finances away from them -- their key power in the 191-member General Assembly, where each nation gets one vote. They say that the proposals go against the U.N. charter.
Rich nations, meanwhile, back Annan's demand that member states give him more authority for some budget decisions, and leave other choices to a small but representative group of nations.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Group of 77 resolution would only draw more attention to the need for reform at the United Nations.
''We do not fear a vote,'' Bolton said. ''If the American public and Congress see what actually goes on up here as opposed to the confusion and fog that often accompany debates in the United Nations then they'll be in a position to draw their conclusions.''
Decisions are usually adopted by consensus in the budget committee as a way to force compromise between developing nations, which can get their way because of their numbers, and the smaller group of nations that pay about 85 percent of the budget.
If the Group of 77 resolution is adopted later Thursday, richer nations such as the United States and Japan may consider withholding their U.N. dues in June.
That's when member states will convene to discuss how much progress has been made toward reform. In December, the U.N. agreed to a $950 million spending cap for 2006 that could be lifted only if sufficient reforms were implemented.