By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/ban1mybiar010710.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 6 -- With the UN shifting Ibrahim Gambari to a post in Darfur, the UN's "good office" position for Myanmar became vacant. Back on December 14, Inner City Press exclusively reported that Gambari's replacement on Myanmar would at least initially be Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar:
UNITED NATIONS, December 14 -- The UN's Myanmar portfolio, now that Ibrahim Gambari is being reassigned to Darfur, will be handled by chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, Inner City Press has been informed by more than one well placed UN source.
The genial Nambiar fell under fire, given his fraternal and Indian connections, when he handled Sri Lanka. Some wonder if Myanmar will be different. In any event, this type of assignment should be publicly announced.
While the UN Office of the Spokesperson, even after that report, declined to confirm to Inner City Press Nambiar's position, on January 6 Spokesman Martin Nesirky in a surreal seven minute colloquy stated that Gambari "is due to take up his new position...from 15 January. And, in the meantime, the Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar, is overseeing the Secretary-General’s good offices and the engagement with the Government of Myanmar."
But, after Nesirky cut off further questions by saying he had to run upstairs to the Security Council because "the Secretary-General is probably going to come to the stakeout and I have to stand next to him, that’s the limit," Mr. Ban fell back on earlier, less specific talking points.
"I am also in the process of identifying a candidate who can take Mr. Gambari's responsibilities. I am not leaving this position open. Even during this time, either Mr. Gambari, or some other senior officers within the Secretariat, are taking this job, and the responsibilities."
So, even though Nambiar is his own chief of staff, Mr. Ban would not say his name, unlike Nesirky less than an hour before. Could it be attributable to an increasingly wide spread analysis that to assign a long time Indian diplomat to deal with Myanmar, where India has major economic interests, is belatedly viewed as a problem? Or is it just reflexive lack of transparency?
Ban's seeming contradiction to Inner City Press' December 14 report was noted elsewhere - but the Dec. 14 report has been confirmed.
On that, Inner City Press on January 6 asked Nesirky a factual question about the Myanmar good office post, Gambari and his successor(s) --
Inner City Press: On Mr. Gambari, I was told that he’s an Under-Secretary-General, his actual salary was cobbled together between the Iraq post and the Myanmar post and, following losing the Iraq post, this played some role in assigning him to Darfur. One, I would like you to confirm that his post was not paid out of the general kitty, but was, in fact, put together by the two jobs. And also whether his replacement will be an Under-Secretary General, or at some lower level. This was described to me by somebody that understands the budget. The question is whether his post was funded as a regular Under-Secretary General post, or whether it was put together out of two income streams and that’s part of the reason for the change.
Spokesperson: Well, you’ll probably have a golden opportunity tomorrow to ask Angela Kane precisely that question on the budget.
Inner City Press: Since I asked it here, I have other questions for Angela Kane. So if there’s some way on the Gambari front for you to look into this…
Spokesperson: I don’t think it’s such a good idea for me to answer questions related to Angela Kane, when she’s going to be here tomorrow to answer them herself.
Inner City Press: Do you ensure that she’ll take this question?
Spokesperson: I’m going to be sitting next to her. But, that’s not the same as saying that I ensure that you get precisely the question you want. I’ll do my very best. If there’s a room full with people asking questions, it’s good to be able to spread it around a bit.
Inner City Press: If she doesn’t answer it, then consider yourself asked.
Spokesperson: I consider myself asked all the time, Matthew.
Inner City Press: But I also wanted to ask…
Spokesperson: No, no you don’t.
While in Myanmar they also control and cut off questions from the media, they don't do it with so deftly. Watch this site.
Footnote: a previously holder of the UN's Myanmar good offices post supplemented his income by engaging in telecommunications and other business deals in the country. One wag mused that perhaps this "living off the land," as for example the ex-rebel armed groups the UN supports in the Congo do, might be the way for Gambari's replacement to replace the Iraq post income stream.And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1mybiar010710.html
