Pete Fisher
Who will succeed Kofi Annan?
By Pete Fisher
This December of 2006, Kofi Annan will leave his post as the U.N. Secretary General on the 31st. This has opened the door for much speculation as well as discussions about running elections differently than they have in the past. The proposed changes include electing more due to need than geographical rotation.
Earlier last month we had South Korea, Lithuania, Thailand, India, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka with their respective candidates in the running. Article 97 of the charter says that the Secretary-General be appointed by the General Assembly upon a nomination from the Security Council with a minimum of 9 votes and no veto from a permanent member.
This year includes permanent members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The complaints have begun to trickle in concerning what areas have not been represented in the last several decades, as well as the selection process.
However, while these complaints began to come in, an unexpected candidate through his hat in the ring, and that was Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, the cousin of King Abdullah II. While India has been trying to convince the world that it is indeed an Asian nation, and China, Japan and Russia are pushing for an Asian candidate, one pops up from the Middle East, with Ambassadorial experience and experience in the International court of Justice as well as other prestigious positions on his resume.
It seems that this cousin of King Abdullah II is as well liked as his cousin in the arenas of benevolence and peace making, and is by rumor favored by the United States. France as usual, cannot seem to make up its mind, with exception that they strongly desire the next SG to speak French. China has stated it will only support an Asian candidate, and Russia backs this by sticking to regional rotation of the post versus speculative changes to the system.
The U. K. in the last Straw Poll showed favor as well for Al-Hussein, putting 2 permanent members for the Jordanian, France undecided, and Russia and China behind an Asian candidate. My guess is France will capitulate to the Hashemite candidate due to their large Muslim population, as well as dependence on foreign oil. Russia in the past has backed Arab nations militarily and in U.N. decisions, so it would not surprise me to see them change their minds.
So looking at a few things here, I would have to make my guess for Al-Hussein for a few reasons. First and foremost, his cousin has been all over the globe on his great mission to moderate Islam, unite the Muslim world, and create and establish a peace agreement with Israel for several years now. He recently stated he wanted this agreement, which has already been drawn up and agreed upon by the Muslim nations in the Middle East, as well as the E. U., G8, G11, and others to be fully in place no later than June of 2007. He claims that if the agreement is not reached by then, the hope for peace will be gone.
Intending to restore peace to the area has great appeal to the entire world, and he seems to have been the only one who has garnered the praise of Westerners, Muslims, and Israel and have a fully drawn up peace pact with Israel between the Muslim states.
I believe he desires to have this plan in before Bush and Blair move on, as the War on Terror seems to be a springboard to assist Abdullah II in his quest for global peace, and he most likely thinks that a Liberal party may end up in place of both, and take away the advantage of the War on Terror. And rightly so, as Liberal administrations in the past have knelt to Terrorists and the last thing Abdullah II needs right now is an aid to Bin Laden and Hamas, who he has done his best to tame and decry. A Liberal president and PM could take away his hard work in weeks.
Having a direct cousin in the U.N. as Secretary General, as well as global acceptance of his peace plan, could have a heavy effect on voting entities, as no other candidate for the UNSG can claim any of these credentials for carrying out an already arranged peace, nor would any of them have much if any affect on Middle Eastern affairs.
Though he is a late candidate, and South Korea is currently favored in the Straw Poll, I would not discount this man as the next successor to the post due to the fragile situation in the Middle East that seems to have only one man with a valid proposal for peace between Israel and her neighbors. So I plan on watching closely this next election, as well as keep an eye on the current election process and the proposed changes.
With Kofi exiting Stage Left, and leaving his legacy of a defunct and useless organization, this could change quickly and next UNSG could very well be the last paving stone for a peace agreement in the Middle East.
© Pete Fisher
This December of 2006, Kofi Annan will leave his post as the U.N. Secretary General on the 31st. This has opened the door for much speculation as well as discussions about running elections differently than they have in the past. The proposed changes include electing more due to need than geographical rotation.
Earlier last month we had South Korea, Lithuania, Thailand, India, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka with their respective candidates in the running. Article 97 of the charter says that the Secretary-General be appointed by the General Assembly upon a nomination from the Security Council with a minimum of 9 votes and no veto from a permanent member.
This year includes permanent members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The complaints have begun to trickle in concerning what areas have not been represented in the last several decades, as well as the selection process.
However, while these complaints began to come in, an unexpected candidate through his hat in the ring, and that was Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, the cousin of King Abdullah II. While India has been trying to convince the world that it is indeed an Asian nation, and China, Japan and Russia are pushing for an Asian candidate, one pops up from the Middle East, with Ambassadorial experience and experience in the International court of Justice as well as other prestigious positions on his resume.
It seems that this cousin of King Abdullah II is as well liked as his cousin in the arenas of benevolence and peace making, and is by rumor favored by the United States. France as usual, cannot seem to make up its mind, with exception that they strongly desire the next SG to speak French. China has stated it will only support an Asian candidate, and Russia backs this by sticking to regional rotation of the post versus speculative changes to the system.
The U. K. in the last Straw Poll showed favor as well for Al-Hussein, putting 2 permanent members for the Jordanian, France undecided, and Russia and China behind an Asian candidate. My guess is France will capitulate to the Hashemite candidate due to their large Muslim population, as well as dependence on foreign oil. Russia in the past has backed Arab nations militarily and in U.N. decisions, so it would not surprise me to see them change their minds.
So looking at a few things here, I would have to make my guess for Al-Hussein for a few reasons. First and foremost, his cousin has been all over the globe on his great mission to moderate Islam, unite the Muslim world, and create and establish a peace agreement with Israel for several years now. He recently stated he wanted this agreement, which has already been drawn up and agreed upon by the Muslim nations in the Middle East, as well as the E. U., G8, G11, and others to be fully in place no later than June of 2007. He claims that if the agreement is not reached by then, the hope for peace will be gone.
Intending to restore peace to the area has great appeal to the entire world, and he seems to have been the only one who has garnered the praise of Westerners, Muslims, and Israel and have a fully drawn up peace pact with Israel between the Muslim states.
I believe he desires to have this plan in before Bush and Blair move on, as the War on Terror seems to be a springboard to assist Abdullah II in his quest for global peace, and he most likely thinks that a Liberal party may end up in place of both, and take away the advantage of the War on Terror. And rightly so, as Liberal administrations in the past have knelt to Terrorists and the last thing Abdullah II needs right now is an aid to Bin Laden and Hamas, who he has done his best to tame and decry. A Liberal president and PM could take away his hard work in weeks.
Having a direct cousin in the U.N. as Secretary General, as well as global acceptance of his peace plan, could have a heavy effect on voting entities, as no other candidate for the UNSG can claim any of these credentials for carrying out an already arranged peace, nor would any of them have much if any affect on Middle Eastern affairs.
Though he is a late candidate, and South Korea is currently favored in the Straw Poll, I would not discount this man as the next successor to the post due to the fragile situation in the Middle East that seems to have only one man with a valid proposal for peace between Israel and her neighbors. So I plan on watching closely this next election, as well as keep an eye on the current election process and the proposed changes.
With Kofi exiting Stage Left, and leaving his legacy of a defunct and useless organization, this could change quickly and next UNSG could very well be the last paving stone for a peace agreement in the Middle East.
© Pete Fisher
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