Four strikes and you’re…

Pakistan continues to have difficulty finding someone willing to be its nationalist champion against India’s Shashi Tharoor.

It’s latest candidate-to-be-named, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, has not yet received the reassurances that Islamabad would provide her the necessary support to effectively challenge Tharoor for the post of UNSG. Tharoor was formally nominated as a candidate on Thursday and has begun his campaign in Africa.

To date, Pakistan has leaked the names of four officials who were being considered.

  • Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz – would prefer to stay on as Prime Minister until 2012. (Maybe he’ll challenge Ramos-Horta?)
  • UN Ambassador Munir Akram – does not want to give up his seat at the UN just yet
  • Former UNFPA Director Dr. Nafis Sadik – has told friends she has no interest in the post
  • Ambassador to the UK Maleeha Lodhi – ??

Lodhi’s name was raised as a possibility after, one by one, the others declined the honor and after it was reported that Pakistan had given up and would instead back one of Tharoor’s current challengers.

Considering the difficulty Pakistan is having with finding one of its own to challenge Tharoor, the government might want to revisit that option.

5 Responses to “Four strikes and you’re…”

  1. Dr.Yashanvitha says:

    Who ever it may be, whether it is Maleeha Lodhi,Chirag,Niranjan Adithya,Banki moor, Dhanpala…..So the list may go on innumerably. They may all be good friends to their people & nations since 50 yrs,but Dr. Tharoor can be a best friend to their nations & people within 05minutes!!!

    Tharoor is a person with extreme concerns for the situations he sees around him in this world.He truly do not deserve the harsh blames in any angle. Bcos he is a person who do not judge anyone harshly.He seem to be cool, but one should look at the turmoils of a human mind with many global concerns by reading his poetry named -How to sleep-advice to a officialdom.All candidates must read this little poem before contesting infront of him. UN members should not be blindfolded to look at his deep commitment to UN from his both professional as well as personal life for 28 yrs.Look at this amazing child who is standing infront of the UN, respectfully asking the support to serve it in a better way,a child who started reading books at the age of 3 & grew up with the global spirit to work only for UN objectives!.He once quoted Wordsworth lines -“What is the use of life full of care, if he don’t have the time to stand & stare!”He went on sending the cables at his UN office during nights, without coming home, just because, it would cost for the other end during the day! Can anyone judge & imagine a person with high moral & spiritual back up?
    All these yrs, he went on uplifting the UN’s image in the public eyes by asserting -” We need to reform the UN, not bcos it has failed , but it has succeeded enough to invest in it.”Now its the time for UN members to honour his global spirit saying-“We need to support & co-operate Mr. Tharoor, not because he is handsome,but he has succeeded enough to be dynamic, democratic, diplomatic future UNSG with deep dedication to UN for the next decade”.
    It is only when the politicians of developed & developing nations come out of their selfish shells to embrace the beauty of our global belongingness & interdependence on each other, UN can be blessed with secular governance.So politicians who have the records of serving in any one particular National politics should be strictly prohibited from being nominated for the SG post.

  2. politikaldysfunktion says:

    Your ‘Candidates’ section looks hopelessly out-of-date. Is this site even still active?!

    Ban Ki-Moon has apparently missed the boat on nominations, and Ramos-Horta’s given up on this round! Not to mention that Niranjan Deva just stepped up to the table with a couple of nominations.

    Is anyone following this??

  3. Tony Fleming says:

    Your reaction seems a bit exaggerated, don’t you think? The blog is updated every few days, and the candidates’s page is updated weekly to reflect the week’s developments.

    Your thoughts on specific candidates reflects a poor understanding of the process. There is no “missing the boat” on nominations, as has been clearly noted by the French Ambassador, and Ban Ki-Moon, while not yet formally nominated, is still a very strong candidate. Jose Ramos-Horta only yesterday was chosen as the new Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, confirming his exit from the race.

    Regarding Nirj Deva, I have been closely watching his personal trips around the world, and have been in contact with his personal assistant. Deva has been actively campaigning for himself, has been politely received in many capitals and has received letters of support. Yet, despite his credentials and experience, he has not and is not likely to receive an official nomination. The Sri Lankan government’s formal endorsement of Jayantha Dhanapala, who is himself imminently qualified, is not likely to change in the near future, nor will Dhanapala leave the campaign in the near future. But, regardless of his heritage, perhaps more damning to Deva’s chances is his stronger ties at present to Britian (a permanent member), including his elected position as a British representative in the European Parliament. He would make an ideal Secretary General candidate were it not for these, while political, still very real obstacles.

    I trust you’ll continue to read the daily blog postings on UNSG.org and share your continued thoughts on the race and candidates.

  4. Thom Kingswell says:

    I find the first comment very interesting. Dr. Yashanvitha heaps praise upon India’s star candidate, Mr. Shashi Tharoor, while in the same breath damns the involvement of “national politics.” There are few candidates more strongly involved with their nation’s politics and government; this man wrote the book(s) on it!

    I also have some concern about Mr. Tharoor’s American ties. I realize that his extended work at UNHQ in New York (and overall 28-year US residency) would, of course, “Americanize” his family to some degree – but his kids seem to be rather involved with domestic political activism, such as the Centre for American Progress! See http://www.campusprogress.org/tools/634/campus-progress-2005-2006-student-advisory-board

    Finally, regarding the rather entertaining exchange in the second and third comments, I agree that Niranjan Deva-Aditya would be an excellent candidate for United Nations Secretary General, but I can’t agree that he is not an Asian. Does anyone question that Sashi Tharoor is an Asian? If you look Deva’s cv ( http://www.nirjdeva.com/international) you see that his family are all in Sri Lanka, his property and business interests are in Sri Lanka, he is regarded as “Vishwa Keerthi Sri Lanka Abhimani,” by the Buddhist clergy in recognition of his services to Sri Lanka. In fact, all he has outside Sri Lanka is his house in Brussels and his wife. – Oh, and he is also Ambassador-at-Large for Sri Lanka.

  5. Dr.Yashanvitha says:

    I completely agree with Thom Kingswell’s comment on my heaps of praises on Dr. Tharoor.To find some more heaps, hope u r reading my other responses posted previously. There is a difference of earth & sky to relate politician & an incredible author we are commenting here.Writing about a Nation is all about studying about the infrastructure of its culture, history & essence.He has not written a book on India, bcos he is an Indian, but bcos India is a land of unity in diversity as supreme divinity.Studying about India is studying the wholeness of different culture,not only in different worlds, but in different universes.It is like interpreting the level of baking grain by analysing one grain under the microscope.India is the anglo name of the Nation. Its original Sanskrit name is Bharath(Bha means Supreme Divine Light,Rath means Chariot for the Supreme Divine Light).Bha also mean Alimighty God,Rath also mean in in loving bondage. King Vrishabha was ruling the whole world. Whole world was behaving as one nation Anjanaabha.King divided the land into seven continents & gave individual authority to his seven sons. Eldest among them was Bharath,whose name was automatically adopted to his continent, as all other brothers were so much in love with their most noble eldest brother ,that they took pride in saying they are related to him. Not only his brothers, but all the common people of the whole world felt proud to be related to Bharath as a King, as a Land. Today,Dr. Tharoor is standing infront of the world,representing Anjana bha as well as Bharath(India).

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