BEIJING, Nov.22 (Xinhuanet) -- As UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon term is approaching an end, the election of a new UN head is set to be held. However, controversy about how to select candidates for the world's top diplomatic spot have arisen.
Most candidates are yet to announce their intention to run. But already there's controversy about how fair and open the selection process really is.
Legally, it's the General Assembly who appoints the secretary-general. But it's on the recommendation of the Security Council. And when it comes right down to it, the Council only ever suggests one name, the person it wants.
There are 193 UN member-countries but it's the 15-member Security Council that gets the say in who's selected. A candidate needs at least nine yes votes from the Council. There are five permanent members, China, Russia, the US, the UK, and France. So, if any one of the five permanent members votes no - the candidate is instantly rejected.
"The current process is one that is very closed, and has very serious lowest common denominator forces in the procedure that should be changed," William Pace of Institute For Global Policy said.
William Pace has spent several decades campaigning for reform at the United Nations.He wants a more formal selection process, with applications and interviews.And the decision-making opened up to more countries.
"The procedure now is one basically where you're leaving it to the United States, Russia, China to try and come to an agreement on an individual that they could work with as Secretary-General," Pace said. "It is a process will be very dangerous this time with the very bad relations between these principle veto members in the Security Council."
There's never been a secretary-general from Eastern Europe, so many feel it’s their turn. But the current crisis in Ukraine may rule out that region.
While there's no official list of candidates, and never likely to be, there are still plenty of names being talked about. And this time the field is full of female candidates. Like UNESCO’s Executive Director, Irina Bokova from Bulgaria. Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff or former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. And leading the men, is Australia’s former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
But the secretary-general is usually a lesser-known figure from a less-prominent country. So in the past they've come from places like Myanmar and Peru. More recently we've had Boutros Boutros-Ghali from Egypt, Kofi Annan from Ghana, and Ban Ki-moon, a foreign affairs and trade minister from South Korea.
Change is never easy. But 2016 could be a big year for women. Possibly the first female US president and perhaps the UN's first female secretary general.
(Source: CNTV.com)
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