By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, February 19 – The talk at the UN on Tuesday was of top posts: who will be President of the General Assembly in 2014, and who'll succeed Ban Ki-moon as Secretary General?
On the first, as Inner City Press first reported, Cameroon's Permanent Representative Tommo Monthe has been viewed as a front-runner, having chaired the Fifth (Budget) Committee and Third (Human Rights) Committee of the General Assembly.
He knows how the GA works, as one of his supporters told Inner City Press on Tuesday.
But the East African Community over the weekend endorsed Uganda's foreign minister Sam Kutesa, days after he went public with his candidacy. (One Tommo Monthe supporter lamented that the Paul Biya government in Cameroon is “too slow” in such things.)
In the C-34 Committee on Peacekeeping Tuesday afternoon, several African diplomats told Inner City Press that's it, a foreign minister trumps a Perm Rep, case closed. Or is it?
(The East African Community also tapped Kenya as its next candidate for a two year Security Council term - but that won't be until late 2016, running for a 2017-18 seat.)
Meanwhile it is the Eastern European group which lays claim to the Secretary General post after Asia's man, Ban Ki-moon. There is more and more talk of current President of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic of Serbia trying to use his term as PGA to raise his chances to be SG.
But others assume that Western countries which have recognized Kosovo would be hard-pressed to accept Jeremic. And so, after a predicted counter-block of a Pole, talk has turned to Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.
Others mentioned are Jan Kubis, currently at the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Danilo Turk, even former PGA Srgjan Kerim. There are also Latin(a) dreamers, but that would involve bypassing Eastern Europe. Watch this site.
