For NextSG, Georgieva Answers on Haiti Cholera & Syria, Not Yet UN Corruption or Yemen

By Matthew Russell Lee, Follow Up on Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, October 3 -- Amid the jockeying by dark horses and dreamers for the Next UN Secretary General spot, when there is a denial, even a partial one, we strive to report it as quickly as possible: see pick-ups of Inner City Press' reporting in Australia, here and below.

On October 3, new entrant Kristalina Georgieva took questions in Conference Room 1 then at the GA stakeout. (Inner City Press asked audibly about UN corruption and the Ng Lap Seng case, what she would do differently than Ban Ki-moon, Vine video here.)

  In Conference Room 1, Kenya's Ambassador Kamau memorably said, If you are the right person, you are not too late. Ukraine's Ambassador asked her about his country; she said her brother is married to a Ukrainian from Kharkiv, “it gets personal.”

   She analogized the situation in Syria to the proverbial frog in hot then boiling water. Inner City Press wanted to ask her about Yemen and Ban Ki-moon's sell out in dropping Saudi Arabia from the Children and Armed Conflict annex, but time or the spokesman did not permit.

  To her credit, Georgieva said forthrighly the cholera was brought to Haiti by insufficient scrutiny of peacekeepers. She seemed to say that Ban has already established a $181 million trust fund for victims, which is not the case. But the answer was good. France asked about peacekeeping when, as Inner City Press reported October 1 and before, it may lose the top post in DPKO in favor of China.

On October 1 Inner City Press exclusively reported among other things, below, that “Kevin Rudd doesn't hide it, and Inner City Press hears he's lined up a country other that Australia which could nominate him.”

        On October 2 a dozen Australia media via AAP's Peter Mitchell(here on SkyNews) quoted Inner City Press, and then this from a Rudd spokeswoman, via Fairfax Media's David Wroe: "Following the decision by the Australian government, another government approached Mr Rudd to nominate him as a candidate for UN Secretary General. Mr Rudd approached the Australian government more than six weeks ago asking if they would oppose such a nomination, were he to consider accepting it. He has received no reply, and as a result Mr Rudd has ruled out this proposed nomination."

   It was added, “Mr Rudd's spokeswoman on Sunday initially dismissed as 'false' a report by the New York-based website Inner City Press that Mr Rudd had lined up another country's backing, insisting that Mr Rudd had 'not approached any governments other than Australia.' She also said that 'not agreed to any such proposal from another country.' But when asked by Fairfax Media whether any country had approached Mr Rudd, she said in a statement via email that a country had indeed.”

   So, can it be claimed that this “other government” told Turnbull it might nominate Rudd without Rudd “lining it up”? At least Team Rudd responded, with a partial admission. Current or “Old SG” Ban Ki-moon's response to accurate Inner City Press stories has been to evict it from the UN and confine it to minders, New York Times here, petition here.

On October 3, SkyNews Australia's Chris Kenny did a two minute on camera send-up of RuddGate, including footage from the Terminator movie, and saying that Rudd had used the media to float the story of another country -- “perhaps North Korea” -- being ready to nominate him.

   For what it's worth, Inner City Press which first reported this did not get the exclusive from Rudd or the Rudd camp. We'll have more on this.

   For the record, no one is formally a candidate for Next SG until a country actually submits to the UN a letter of nomination - and the Presidents of the General Assembly and of the Security Council jointly circulate it, as happened albeit on a day's delay in the case of Kristalina Georgieva. Watch this site.

With female Eastern European group candidates low in the Next UN Secretary General straw poll conducted by Russia in the Security Council on September 26, two days later on September 28 as predicted Bulgaria nominated and switched its backing to Kristalina Georgieva from Irina Bokova.

There was a four-member questioning of the switch, but within a day it was accepted and the letter went out. Georgieva's General Assembly interview was scheduled for October 3, with a press stakeout at 1 pm.

   The plot has thickened and Inner City Press can now go beyond its previous reporting on a possible deal NOT to veto Antonio Guterres if Russia gets the Deputy Secretary General spot, either for Vuk Jeremic who has indicted he would take it, or the now “personal” candidate Irina Bokova.

There may be another “dark horse” Deputy Secretary General candidate, from Kazakhstan - and female. We'll have more on this.

    Russia, Inner City Press is exclusively informed by well-placed but not Russian sources, also wants the UN Department of Political Affairs, held for the last two times by the United States. They say there is precedent, that the USSR held the precursor to DPA post. But how would giving DPA to Russia at this time be viewed?

  In other Under Secretary General musical chairs news and musing, China is “ready to move beyond DESA,” as one source put it to Inner City Press, and wants the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row, has run into the ground.

  But what would France get? UK Stephen O'Brien wants to stay on in Humanitarian Affairs, and the US in this scenario would take back Management from  Japan. What would France be left with? Some say the Department of Public Information, and point to a candidate in waiting at UNESCO. We'll have more on that, and on the UNESCO race, as well.

   At DPI, Cristina Gallach who has mis-run the Department and linked it to the Ng Lap Seng UN bribery scandal as well as then turning DPI into an eviction shop has to go.

Spain is said to be trying to parlay the last three months of its Security Council membership into a position like Disarmament, which Kim Won-soo will vacate, reportedly to again campaign with Ban Ki-moon, this time for South Korea president.

   Even at this late stage there are dark horses and dreamers. Kevin Rudd doesn't hide it, and Inner City Press hears he's lined up a country other that Australia which could nominate him. [See here, and above.] Just gone PGA Lykketoft is said to dream of the post, as is Ban's current deputy (who until now has referred all mis-Communication issues back to Ms Gallach). From Lebanon, Sigrid Kaag is said to have been trying to convince her Dutch government to nominate her, but upcoming elections have not helped. There are elections everywhere. Watch this site.

  Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko on September 29, on Georgieva, said it's too late, that she won't be able to go through the process the others have. Inner City Press Vine here. Inner City Press heard that Georgieva's General Assembly interview or informal is tentatively scheduled for Monday, October 3, two days before the sixth, differentiated straw poll. Timing is everything.

   In January of this year, Inner City Press asked Georgieva some UN reform questions from the UN Press Briefing Room, here, prior toeviction by Old SG Ban Ki-moon. Georgieva has some powerful backers, but her EU role may be a problem for Russia. Some wonder if Bokova will in fact drop out, or now count on backing to become Deputy Secretary General. Watch this site.

The fifth round of straw polling for the Next UN Secretary General dealt another blow to the lofty rhetoric on gender, with the four top finishers all men. Vuk Jeremic of Serbia edged ahead of Miroslav Lajcak for second place. Inner City Press has heard Russia might NOT veto Antonio Guterres if Jeremic or Irina Bokova got the deputy SG spot. Here are the results:

Antonio Guterres: 12-2-1
Vuk Jeremic: 8-6-1
Miroslav Lajcak: 8-7-0
Danilo Turk: 7-7-1
Susanna Malcorra: 7-7-1
Irina Bokova: 6-7-2
Srgjan Kerim: 6-9-0
Helen Clark: 6-9-0
Natalia Gherman: 3-11-1