Ban takes 1st Straw Poll
South Korean candidate Ban Ki Moon led in “enouragements” today in the first straw poll for UNSG, with Tharoor, Surakiart following and Dhanapala in last place.
| Encourage | Discourage | No Opinion | |
| Ban | 12 | 1 | 2 |
| Tharoor | 10 | 2 | 3 |
| Surakiart | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| Dhanapala | 5 | 6 | 4 |
Each government signaled its preferences by marking on secret ballots whether they would “encourage” each candidate, “discourage” him, or had “no opinion.” Ban and Tharoor were informed in person and Dhanapala and Surakiart were phoned by Security Council President Jean-Marc de La Sabliere with their individual tallies and the highest and lowest tallies. Despite being asked afterward in several different ways, Ambassador de La Sabliere refused to officially reveal the results, but jokingly told reporters that,
“To be sure anonymity is respected, we all had the same pen… So no one can know exactly…”
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton noted in speaking with reporters that there was no differentiation in the voting between permanent and non-permanent members, a rule he suggested nonetheless “is not neccesarily true for future straw polls.”
Bolton commented that the four candidates would now be able to judge whether to continue in the race and others who may be considering joining the race may do so. On the question of regional rotation, Bolton suggested that President Bush was merely stating “the common wisdom” last week, that the U.S. position on regional rotation was “unchanged” and that ”…now it’s up to candidates whether they are from Asia or from other regions to make a decision whether to have a member government put their name forward.”
Bolton stepped back from his comments Friday that stating the U.S. preference would be a “kiss of death,” saying instead that “to give an indication really may or may not advantage the candidate(s) that we most favor.”
The only names considered today were those which had received a formal nomination by a member government. A source at the French mission mentioned that Niranjan Deva, a member of the European Parliament but with strong ties to Sri Lanka, attempted to get a meeting with Ambassador de la Sabliere as President of the Security Council, but was firmly rebuffed.
No reaction yet from Surakiart or Dhanapala’s campaigns. Surakiart’s endorsement by ASEAN was reaffirmed just this week, and Dhanapala has been considered a “rising star” hoping to recruit UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to help “inject the kind of passion” needed in promoting the UN.
Another straw poll will not take place until late August, noted the French official, also adding that ”We would like to see new candidates before then.”
July 24th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Looks like its time for both Surakiart and Dhanapala to bow out. ASEAN’s just went through the motion of reaffirming its support for Surakiart’s candidacy, but this will raise again the question of whether Singapore will throw Goh Chok Tong or some other Singaporean’s hat into the ring. With the political crisis in Thailand together with Surakiart’s own lackluster campaign performance, one would hope he would have the good sense to withdraw, but perhaps he’s as stubborn as his mentor Thaksin? And Dhanapala? He never really had a shot, and the latest round of campaigning this week by his aide seemed to have backfired.
July 25th, 2006 at 6:27 am
It’s time for Dhanapala and Surakiart to graciously bow out of the race. It’s also time for the Non-aligned Movement and G-77 to seriously think about whether one of their own should be leading the UN after Kofi Annan. Can we expect solidarity among the developing nations?
July 26th, 2006 at 11:18 am
Niranjan Deva was firmly rebuffed….Well done! But why Ban ki Moor is given the kiss of death?He is still very kiddish.Let him survive.Dr. Tharoor is the blazing Sun.Why to bring the torchlight from outside when Sun is inside the UN?No one is better positioned than Mr. Tharoor to understand the infrastructure of UN & make it work spontaneously with new reforms. Dr. Tharoor can survive with the kiss of death,because he knows how to embrace Life & transform darkness into light.India is a land which had taught to its sons & daughters, how to rcv the coming tomorrows.Since aeons, every morning, Mother India wakes up with her children’s determination to walk towards truth from untruth, to walk towards light from darkness, to walk towards Immortality from Death.Sons & daughters of Anjanaabha (World) & Bharath(India) feel proud to join their every step with Mr. Tharoor in this 21st Century.In Sanskrit, we the people, as one world chant the essence & purpose of human life in the evolution of this globe.Our prayers & blessings are still with Mr. Tharoor to transform the kiss of death into beautiful emrace of life to the whole world.
God bless Mr. Tharoor.
Asathoma Sadgamaya
Thamosoma Jyothirgamaya
Mrithyorma Amrithangamaya
Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi
August 15th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
[…] Considering that the results of the Security Council’s straw poll last month leaked within hours of the vote only supports Hirsch’s contention that someone will talk if the media cared to probe. And it is not as if this discussion is taking place in a conflict zone, or amid the rubble of a natural disaster or otherwise far away from the comfortable surroundings of journalists’ desks. It’s right down the street, for crying out loud! Hirsch seems to be pleading. […]
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:21 pm
[…] I’m betting on the U.N. to flub it, and I can even tell you how it’s going to happen. The front-runner to replace Kofi Annan is South Korea’s leftist Foreign Minister, Ban Ki-Moon, a man whose record embodies the very worst we’ve come to expect from the U.N.: passive-aggressive policies that appease evil and confront all efforts to define or enforce standards of civilized conduct. As Foreign Minister, Ban was architect and executor of a no-questions-asked appeasement policy toward North Korea. During those years, North Korea’s human rights record was the worst on earth, and probably the worst since the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Kim Jong Il’s absolutist regime, supported by $7 billion in South Korean aid since 1994, stands accused of racial infanticide, the use of gas chambers for horrific chemical weapons on entire families, and a politically selective famine that “cleansed” North Korea of millions while the regime went on an arms-buying spree. North Korea’s forced labor camps are estimated to hold as many as 250,000 people, including thousands of children. […]
October 7th, 2006 at 10:23 am
[…] I’m betting on the U.N. to flub it, and I can even tell you how it’s going to happen. The front-runner to replace Kofi Annan is South Korea’s leftist Foreign Minister, Ban Ki-Moon, a man whose record embodies the very worst we’ve come to expect from the U.N.: passive-aggressive policies that appease evil and confront all efforts to define or enforce standards of civilized conduct. As Foreign Minister, Ban was architect and executor of a no-questions-asked appeasement policy toward North Korea. During those years, North Korea’s human rights record was the worst on earth, and probably the worst since the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Kim Jong Il’s absolutist regime, supported by $7 billion in South Korean aid since 1994, stands accused of racial infanticide, the use of gas chambers for horrific chemical weapons on entire families, and a politically selective famine that “cleansed” North Korea of millions while the regime went on an arms-buying spree. North Korea’s forced labor camps are estimated to hold as many as 250,000 people, including thousands of children. […]
October 9th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
[…] OneFreeKorea | Blog Archive » The Case for Blocking Ban Ki-Moon: I’m betting on the U.N. to flub it, and I can even tell you how it’s going to happen. The front-runner to replace Kofi Annan is South Korea’s leftist Foreign Minister, Ban Ki-Moon, a man whose record embodies the very worst we’ve come to expect from the U.N.: passive-aggressive policies that appease evil and confront all efforts to define or enforce standards of civilized conduct. As Foreign Minister, Ban was architect and executor of a no-questions-asked appeasement policy toward North Korea. During those years, North Korea’s human rights record was the worst on earth, and probably the worst since the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Kim Jong Il’s absolutist regime, supported by $7 billion in South Korean aid since 1994, stands accused of racial infanticide, the use of gas chambers for horrific chemical weapons on entire families, and a politically selective famine that “cleansed” North Korea of millions while the regime went on an arms-buying spree. North Korea’s forced labor camps are estimated to hold as many as 250,000 people, including thousands of children. Ban and his government had little to say and nothing to ask as these atrocities went on, and go on to this very day. When resolutions condemning these crimes came before the U.N. Human Rights Commission, and later, the General assembly, South Korea’s ambassadors were instructed to either refuse to vote or abstain. Publicly, Ban’s government failed to raise more than one mild, belated, token call to improve human rights in the North, and then, only in the most vague and general sense and in response to withering criticism from abroad. […]