By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 18 -- Can a person be a full time UN official and be running for office in his or her own country?
On Thursday Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky about the case of Romano Prodi. He is the full time UN envoy on the Sahel.
But not only was he listed in the online primary of Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement - now he is described as well positioned to run, even beyond that.
So can he remain as the UN's Sahel envoy? (There is another exclusive Inner City Press published on April 3 that is not unrelated to this - click here.)
Already the UN has allowed Tony Blair to collect, for example $11 million a year from Kazakhstan -- Inner City Press asked, and the UN said to “ask Tony Blair's office.” It's not for Tony to rule if he has a conflict of interest.
Likewise Tuesday night at the UN, Terje Roed-Larsen said openly that he works both for the UN Secretariat and for the International Peace Institute, an NGO now opening an office in Bahrain. For whom was Roed-Larsen traveling to Bahrain, with his UN-funded staffer?
But running for office must be treated more seriously. Or not? Watch this site.
