U.N. Contradicts Itself On Resignation Requests
By Benny Avni
February 1, 2007
The New York Sun
Original Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/47804
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban's struggle to control the Turtle Bay bureaucracy was on full display yesterday, as his aides issued conflicting statements on whether top U.N. managers had obeyed Mr. Ban's request to turn in their resignations so that he could clear the deck for a new team.
At first, Mr. Ban's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, reported that many top managers had refused to step down from their posts, but she later said almost all had resigned.
Also, in a peculiar twist, one of the top executives who was not even asked to resign was Andrew Toh. Mr. Toh had been suspended, but not fired, from his procurement department post last year as part of internal and criminal investigations into corruption.
In early January, Mr. Ban sent letters to most other undersecretaries-general and assistant secretaries-general, asking them to turn in their resignations by January 15, Ms. Montas said at the time, adding that the number of top managers who received the letters was 58.
Yesterday, Ms. Montas told reporters that only 20 of those who had received the letters had left their posts. But she later reversed the story, instead saying 55 top executives had been asked to tend their resignations initially and that only two had declined.
Last year, in an interview with The New York Sun, a former American ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, first suggested that Mr. Ban request the resignations of top officials.
Yesterday, Mr. Bolton said he believed that while Mr. Ban's well-publicized attempt to reorganize key Turtle Bay departments is important, the need to make deep personnel changes is just as necessary. He needs to do both, Mr. Bolton told the Sun.
But while Mr. Ban's reorganization plans are meeting growing resistance and yesterday's confusion may indicate that the entrenched bureaucracy is gaining the upper hand, Mr. Bolton said he was not ready to give up on Mr. Ban yet.
Everybody has to get used to the fact that this is different than Mr. Annan's era, Mr. Bolton said. It is too early to draw conclusions.
But he added that the new chief has limited time to act. There is a period in which changes have to be made, lasting less than a year, he said.
Mr. Bolton said Mr. Ban should soon terminate the contracts of top managers who have not tended their resignations.
Mr. Ban has every right to form his own team, the American U.N. mission's spokesman, Richard Grenell, said. We are confident that the secretary-general will deal with insubordination in his own way.
Despite his call for mass resignations, Mr. Ban has already named some of his predecessor's close aides to serve on his team.
A Mexican official, Alicia Barcena, now serves as Mr. Ban's top aide for management. And an Indian diplomat, Vijay Nambiar, is the current chief of staff.
In addition, the French chief of the peacekeeping department, Jean Marie Guehenno, is widely expected to keep his job despite failures to stem sexual abuse by peacekeepers.
A Singaporean national, Mr. Toh was asked to take a leave from his post as a procurement department assistant secretary-general last year. During his suspension, Mr. Toh will continue to be paid, and because he is on paid leave, Ms. Montas said yesterday, Mr. Toh was not asked to resign.
Mr. Toh's suspension began at the same time that American federal authorities started to investigate corruption in the department.
That probe, which has already yielded several indictments, continues.