UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (IPS) – When Dr Gamani Corea, a former Secretary-Common of the Geneva-based UN Convention on Commerce and Growth (UNCTAD) was holding court docket within the delegate’s lounge, I requested him what he considered the bitter dispute between then Secretary-Common (SG) Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992-1996) and the USA over the Egyptian’s willpower to win re-election for a second time period.
Dr Corea, a product of two prestigious universities, Oxford and Cambridge, and a one-time Sri Lankan Ambassador to the European Financial Neighborhood (EEC) in Brussels, contemplated for some time, and declared: “I can’t actually determine why anybody in his proper thoughts would ever need such a demanding job.”
And maybe he was proper.
Trygve Lie of Norway, the primary UN Secretary-Common, as soon as remarked the SG’s job was “probably the most inconceivable job on this earth.”
Nonetheless, the publish of SG, in up to date historical past, has attracted a minimum of three rating officers from their respective nation’s highest political hierarchies: Boutros Boutros-Ghali, performing Overseas Minister of Egypt, Secretary-Common Ban ki-moon, a former Overseas Minister of South Korea and the present Secretary-Common, Antonio Guterres, a former Prime Minister of Portugal.
The SG, for all intents and functions, is the UN’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) who’s nearly subservient to 193 political leaders, together with presidents, prime ministers, reigning monarchs, international ministers and even UN ambassadors.
However he additionally has no technique of implementing UN resolutions or a standing military to implement them.
Guterres, who has taken a powerful stand in opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and publicly condemned the devastating killings of civilians in Gaza has come underneath hearth, principally from Israeli politicians and senior officers, who haven’t solely known as for his resignation but additionally declared him persona non grata (PNG), banning him from coming into Israel.
Ambassador Anwarul Ok. Chowdhury, a former UN Below-Secretary-Common and one-time Everlasting Consultant of Bangladesh to the United Nations, informed IPS the incumbent Secretary-Common not too long ago lamented to the media that “Effectively, it’s completely true that the Secretary-Common of the United Nations has very restricted energy, and it is also completely true that he has little or no capability to mobilize monetary sources. So, no energy and no cash.”
“That’s the actuality which each Secretary-Common faces and have been conscious of”, mentioned Ambassador Chowdhury.
“That can be identified usually to the individuals who observe the United Nations often and completely understanding the practical complexity of the world’s largest multilateral equipment. Why then this actuality surfaces and dropped at public consideration solely when the UN management fails to hold out the mandated duties?”
This “very restricted energy”, as worded by SG Guterres, needs to be highlighted as usually as doable to keep away from pointless and undue expectations of the worldwide group in regards to the UN and its high management.
“No Secretary-Common has identified these limitations as he campaigned for the publish and on assuming the workplace, he mentioned. Present SG Guterres was no exception. He would have been lifelike and factual if he had identified the constraints – higher termed as obstacles – to his management as he took workplace in 2017, and never in 2024 after being in workplace for practically eight years.”
No matter the foremost ongoing wars, the built-in operational weak point and lack of ability of the world’s most necessary diplomat has all the time been there, mentioned Ambassador Chowdhury, former Senior Particular Adviser to UN Common Meeting President (2011-2012) and President of the UN Safety Council (2000 and 2001).
Ian G. Williams, President of the Overseas Press Affiliation USA, informed IPS it’s time for the pandering to cease. Former Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan’s shredding of the UN Constitution ought to have been be taken as Israeli abrogation of the Constitution, however barring the Secretary Common signifies that Israel has no half within the group, as ought to banning UNRWA and the menace to confiscate its belongings in Jerusalem to construct unlawful settlements on occupied territory.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) acquired Al Capone for tax evasion – and now’s the time for Israel to be squeezed out for its manifest procedural breaches of the UN Constitution and Vienna Conference even when the 2 veto holders cowl for it on genocide, mentioned Williams.
“Being declared PNG by Israel has most likely saved Antonio Guterres’ status, which till now has been dimmed by his relative warning in addressing Israeli depredations. To be attacked by an enemy of mankind and worldwide legislation is not any dangerous factor”.
However now there needs to be follow-up, he identified.
“The members hip of the United Nations ought to now be carving away at Israel’s membership prerogatives since, even when states are reluctant to behave on the state’s egregious violations of worldwide legislation, it has now clearly damaged the fundamental guidelines of worldwide diplomacy.”
“Will it take (Israeli Ambassador) Danny Danon dancing throughout the Common Meeting podium with the SG’s head on a platter to impress motion? requested Williams, a former President of the UN Correspondents Affiliation (UNCA).
Requested in regards to the PNG declaration by Israel, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric mentioned: “We noticed this announcement, which we see as a political assertion by the Overseas Minister. And only one extra assault, so to talk, on UN employees that we have seen from the federal government of Israel.”
“Look, this concern of PNG has been introduced by completely different nations at completely different occasions in direction of a consultant. And as we mentioned each time, we don’t acknowledge that the idea of persona non grata applies to UN employees”, he added.
Repeatedly, mentioned Ambassador Chowdhury, “I’ve identified that “basically there are 4 fundamental constraints to the effectiveness of the Secretary-Common”.
Firstly, veto and veto-wielding members of the Safety Council, which influences issues in all areas of UN system’s work; secondly, guarantees and commitments made by the Secretary-Common as a candidate to safe his election; thirdly, aspiration to get re-elected for a second time period from day one of many first time period; and, fourthly, the labyrinthine UN paperwork.
“We have to revisit the operational credibility of our much-cherished world physique. What was wanted in 1945 to be enshrined within the UN Constitution is to be judged within the mild of present realities.”
If the Constitution must be amended to stay as much as the challenges of worldwide complexities and paralyzing intergovernmental politicization, allow us to try this. It’s excessive time to give attention to that course. Blindly treating the phrases of the Constitution as sacrosanct could also be self-defeating and irresponsible. The UN might be buried underneath its personal rubble until we set our home so as now, declared Chowdhury.
“I’m usually requested, throughout ‘questions and solutions’ phase following my public talking, if I need to suggest one factor that might make the UN carry out higher, what wouldn’t it be. My clear and emphatic reply all the time has been “Abolish the Veto!” Veto is undemocratic, irrational and in opposition to the true spirit of the precept of sovereign equality of the United Nations”.
In an opinion piece within the IPS Journal in March 2022, I wrote that “Imagine me, the veto energy influences not solely the selections of the Safety Council but additionally all work of the UN, together with importantly the selection of the Secretary-Common.”
The identical opinion piece asserted that “I imagine the abolition of veto requires a larger precedence consideration within the reforms course of than the enlargement of the Safety Council membership with extra everlasting ones. Such permanency is solely undemocratic. I additionally imagine that the veto energy is just not ‘the cornerstone of the United Nations’ however in actuality, its tombstone.”
Abolishing the veto would additionally launch the election of the Secretary-Common from the manipulating management of the veto-wielding everlasting members of the Safety Council.
After selecting 9 males successively to be the world’s topmost diplomat, “I strongly imagine that it’s incumbent on the United Nations to have the sanity and sagacity of electing a lady as the following Secretary-Common in 2026 when the incumbent’s successor can be chosen,” he added.
“I’d additionally suggest that in future the Secretary-Common would have just one time period of seven years, versus present follow of routinely renewing the Secretary-Common’s tenure for a second five-year time period, with out even evaluating his efficiency,” he famous.
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