By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, January 4 -- The UN Department of Political Affairs, currently led by Lynn Pascoe of the United States, stands to get a new Under Secretary General.
Last month Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar included Pascoe in a list of USGs who, having served five years, will leave in the first half of 2012.
It had been anticipated that Pascoe would leave between March and April, while his fellow USGs Shaaban Shaaban of Egypt and Sha Zukang of China would be kept in place until June, to complete the Rio + 20 conference.
But now well placed sources hear that Pascoe intends to also remain until June, because the American put forward as a replacement by the US State Department -- Inner City Press is exclusively informed by these sources that this is former US Deputy Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff -- "will not be ready" until then.
Wolff left his Deputy post at the US Mission to the UN to become Ambassador to Chile. He served with George W. Bush's Permanent Representative to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad, and for a time with Obama appointee Susan Rice. Now Wolff would return as head of the UN's Department of Political Affairs, the sources say.
They note that Rice rarely spoke with Pascoe, leaving that task to her deputy Rosemary DiCarlo. One assumes that Rice would speak with Wolff -- for as long as Rice stays at the UN.
A quixotic play for the top DPA top is said to have been made by long time -- more than five years -- UN official Bob Orr. He had said that the five year rule applies to him as well: how, remains to be seen.
Footnote: The idea is that if the US keeps the Department of Political Affairs, which used to belong to the UK, the UK may now get the Chief of Staff or Chef de Cabinet post which Vijay Nambiar is slated to give up, leading the UK to have to sacrifice Baroness Valerie Amos at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. And who will get that? Watch this site.
