Published on May 13, 2005

The government has been urged to reconsider its lobbying campaign for Surakiart Sathirathai to be the next UN secretary-general following confirmation on Wednesday that Supachai Panitchpakdi would head a key UN administrative body.

Immediately after the UN General Assembly confirmed Supachai’s nomination as UNCTAD chief, political pundits and Bangkok-based diplomats said his elevation would seriously hurt Surakiart’s chances of securing the top United Nations post.

They said the UN would not appoint people from the same country to two top posts at the same time.

But Deputy Foreign Ministry spokes-man Kiartikhun Chatiprasert claimed Supachai’s new job would have no impact on the ongoing lobbying campaign to win the top UN post in 2007.

“The selection processes of these two positions are different,” he said.

Democrat Party deputy leader Surin Pitsuwan said Supachai’s appointment to the UN position would not automatically affect Surakiart’s chances.

“It depends on the campaign capabilities and movements of the Thai candidate,” said Surin, the former foreign minister who helped Supachai secure the top job at the World Trade Organisation.

But Kobsak Chutikul, a former MP and foreign policy expert, told The Nation that the Foreign Ministry should “reconsider its position very carefully as to whether or not it will be worth the time, effort and resources, and if the trade-off we will have to make with other countries is worth it”.

Kobsak, who quit the Foreign Ministry five years ago to become a politician, said the ministry mistakenly believed that two people of the same nationality can hold high-level UN administrative posts at the same time.

“They often cite examples of South Korea and Japan including cases of specialised agencies, not administrative of principal UN organs,” he said, adding that UNCTAD is a principal UN organ and the position of UN Secretary-General was the top UN post.

“In UN practice, two top administrative posts do not go to nationals of the same countries,” he said.

Three diplomats, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, told The Nation they shared Kobsak’s assessment. One of them said confirmation of Supachai’s job was “a big blow” to Surakiart’s campaign because it would be impossible to have two Thais at the top serving each other.

“He is in a difficult position. He is facing a huge dilemma,” one said.

In Washington, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said yesterday that Surakiart still had a “good chance” of obtaining the support needed to be the next chief of the world body.

He also downplayed the suggestion that two people from the same country could not hold top jobs at the same time, saying there were no written rules on geographical location.

It’s been estimated that an 18-month campaign to back Surakiart for the prestigious post would cost Thai taxpayers over Bt100 million, but the ministry has been tight-lipped about the possible cost.

The ministry recently tried to pay a US company US$40,000 (Bt1.57 million) a month to lobby for Surakiart’s position. But Kasit Piromya, Thai Ambassador to the US, refused to sign the controversial contract because he felt it was a waste of money.

Post your comment to this story here