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Candidates for UN top job given public hearing
Source: The Guardian
Candidates for UN top job given public hearing
Julian Borger in New York
Tuesday 12 April 2016 19.39 BST
The United Nations has launched its first ever public auditions for the job of UN secretary general, with candidates facing a hail of questions on how they would confront some of the world’s most serious problems.
National and regional representatives at the UN general assembly asked how the applicants would deal with climate change and conflict prevention and resolution, and quizzed them repeatedly on how they would confront the shortcomings of the UN itself.
The open airing of problems and grievances, streamed live on UN web TV on Tuesday, was in dramatic contrast to the selection of the current and earlier secretaries-general, which was negotiated largely in secret by the permanent members of the security council: China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Under the UN charter, those five major powers will still have the final say in the choice of the replacement for Ban Ki-moon, who steps down at the beginning of next year, and the whole process will ultimately require a compromise between the US and Russia, as it has in years past.
But less powerful UN states hope that the public hearings could make it impossible for Washington and Moscow to ignore global opinion entirely and foist their own compromise candidate on the general assembly (GA) at the last moment.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Julian Borger in New York
Tuesday 12 April 2016 19.39 BST
The United Nations has launched its first ever public auditions for the job of UN secretary general, with candidates facing a hail of questions on how they would confront some of the world’s most serious problems.
National and regional representatives at the UN general assembly asked how the applicants would deal with climate change and conflict prevention and resolution, and quizzed them repeatedly on how they would confront the shortcomings of the UN itself.
The open airing of problems and grievances, streamed live on UN web TV on Tuesday, was in dramatic contrast to the selection of the current and earlier secretaries-general, which was negotiated largely in secret by the permanent members of the security council: China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Under the UN charter, those five major powers will still have the final say in the choice of the replacement for Ban Ki-moon, who steps down at the beginning of next year, and the whole process will ultimately require a compromise between the US and Russia, as it has in years past.
But less powerful UN states hope that the public hearings could make it impossible for Washington and Moscow to ignore global opinion entirely and foist their own compromise candidate on the general assembly (GA) at the last moment.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/12/candidates-for-un-top-job-given-public-hearing
