U.N. Chief Plans To Unveil List Of Appointments in February
By Benny Avni
January 25, 2007
The New York Sun
Original Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/47350
UNITED NATIONS — In an effort to stem opposition to appointing an American to a key U.N. position and to other elements of his U.N. reorganization plan, Secretary-General Ban is planning to present a comprehensive package of appointments and structural changes in the second week of February.
During a visit to Washington last week, several sources said, Mr. Ban was urged to move up the date of his announcement, originally planned for the end of February. The longer he waits, the argument goes, the steeper several key U.N. constituents' asking price will be to support the plan.
A European ambassador to the United Nations — who has been briefed on Mr. Ban's plan — told The New York Sun that the secretary-general is now scheduled to present the plan on February 8 or 9.
The United Nations is up in arms about Mr. Ban's intention to place an old State Department hand, Lynn Pascoe, at the head of one of the United Nations' most important policy arms, the Department of Political Affairs. The uproar has already forced Mr. Ban to drop some of his key reorganization proposals, and others remain at risk.
Press outlets have criticized Mr. Ban's early appointments as abrupt and haphazard, and a number of candidates for top positions in the next round of appointments said that even after several meetings with the secretary-general, they are not sure he will include them in his team.
That's his style, one source close to Mr. Ban, who requested anonymity, said. He consults and listens to a large number of people, and then leaves you in the dark until he and Kim go off by themselves to make a decision. (The source was referring to Kim Won-soo, a longtime adviser to Mr. Ban in the South Korean Foreign Ministry whom the secretary-general took with him to the United Nations.)
Mr. Ban says he prefers working with team players, and he relies heavily on people he has long known. His newly appointed chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar of India, is a long-standing acquaintance, as is Mr. Pascoe, who has served in several Asian countries.
Most bureaucratic changes at the United Nations, however, require the approval of the General Assembly committees that oversee the various U.N. departments, and Mr. Ban's plan to appoint America's candidate has forced him to spend political capital with key countries that control those committees.
Many at the Group of 77 voting bloc of poorer countries see the United Nations as a counterweight to America's political power in the world, and even American allies in Europe and among the G–77 say the appointment of Mr. Pascoe would create problems because of the United Nations' need to be seen as independent of Washington's influence.
While the Pakistani ambassador to the United Nations and the current G–77 chairman, Munir Akram, has no problem with an American leading the political department, from a U.N point of view it's a no-win situation, he said.
Instead of opposing the Mr. Pascoe's appointment outright, however, several constituents have begun to tweak other elements of Mr. Ban's reorganization plans. A plan to downgrade the disarmament department has already been dropped. Another proposal, to put the recently created peacekeeping unit under the control of the political department, also has encountered strong opposition.
And a cornerstone of Mr. Ban's proposed reorganization, a plan to split the burgeoning peacekeeping department into two units, has met with strong opposition. Japan was slated to head one of the peacekeeping units, charged with logistic support, but Tokyo has been unenthusiastic.
Japan, the second-largest financial contributor to the United Nations, is badly equipped to deal with military affairs, the Japanese ambassador, Kenzo Oshima, told the Sun. This not our expertise, he said.