What reformers want: A transparent selection process for the next UN secretary-general

On Oct. 13, 2016, the General Assembly appointed a secretary-general who, for the first time since the UN’s inception, was not the first choice of the US and Russia: Antonio Guterres. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 29 December 2020
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What reformers want: A transparent selection process for the next UN secretary-general

  • For decades, the UN secretary-general was effectively handpicked by the five Permanent Members of the Security Council
  • Campaigners are concerned the COVID-19 upheaval will hamper reforms to the selection process for the next secretary-general

NEW YORK CITY: From the day it was founded, the role and responsibilities of the United Nations’ secretary-general have been somewhat ambiguous. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the ambivalence of the victorious Allied powers towards the post, once dubbed “the most impossible job on this earth,” was evident from the very first meeting 75 years ago.

When the discussion turned to the appointment of the first secretary-general, the Allies — Britain, France, China, the US and the Soviet Union — took a firm stand against a secretary-general directly elected by the General Assembly and defended the veto power they later came to possess over the appointment process as Permanent Members of the Security Council.

It also became evident from the outset that the choice of a secretary-general would not be based on any qualifications, stature and leadership qualities, but would be determined simply by what the US and the Soviet Union could agree on.




Empty grounds at the United Nations September 22, 2020 during the the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations which was mostly virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York. (AFP/File Photo)

So although Article 97 of the UN Charter grants the responsibility of selecting a UN chief to the General Assembly, “acting on the recommendation of the Security Council,” the assembly’s role for the first 70 years was limited to rubber-stamping the decision of the five Permanent Members of the council (known as the P5) who “recommended” just one candidate for the assembly to appoint.

Candidates were forced to engage in backroom deals to secure the P5’s support in exchange for promising high-level UN posts for their nationals. For instance, in 1996, France vetoed Kofi Annan until he agreed to name a French national to head UN peacekeeping operations.

The opaque selection process has resulted in a credibility crisis that has dogged the global body for decades.

However, five years ago, this began to change.

On Oct. 13, 2016, the General Assembly appointed a secretary-general who, for the first time since the UN’s inception, was not the first choice of the US and Russia: Antonio Guterres.

Guterres’s selection crowned years of intense lobbying by civil society groups and some members of the General Assembly for a more open and inclusive selection process. The campaign, conducted in New York and other major capitals, culminated in the adoption by the General Assembly of the landmark Resolution 69/321 in September 2015, which calls for a broad timeline for the selection process and puts forth criteria for a candidate who embodies the highest standards of competence and integrity.




Incumbent secretary-general Antonio Guterres was appointed to the position by the General Assemby on On Oct. 13, 2016. (AFP/File Photo)

The General Assembly agreed to publish the names of all candidates, along with their CVs and mission statements, and invited states to put forward female contenders. Later, Resolution 70/305 opposed a monopoly on senior UN posts by any state or group of states.

“It doesn’t sound groundbreaking, but it really was — to actually have the names of the candidates in the public domain,” said Ben Donaldson, co-founder of 1 for 7 Billion: Find the Best UN Leader, a civil society group that launched a campaign to reform the process in 2014 and has since been joined by 750 NGOs and their affiliates worldwide.

“To us and many others in civil society, it seemed outrageous that there were no qualifications necessary, no application process, no shortlisting, nothing in the public domain about how the successful candidate is found.

“It seemed crazy that, for a position that is at the forefront of responding to global challenges like climate change and humanitarian catastrophes, there was so little scrutiny and transparency.”

On Dec. 15, 2015, a year before the end of Ban Ki-moon’s term as secretary-general, the president of the Security Council, US Ambassador Samantha Power, and the president of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, sent a joint letter launching the selection process.




Former secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon attending a conference during the One Planet Summit on December 12, 2017 in Paris. (AFP/File Photo)

Lykketoft, the proactive president of the 70th General Assembly who has made a priority of “creating more transparency and openness when selecting the next secretary-general,” set up a website that listed the candidates and their vision statements.

Parleys were held and streamed online and member states were permitted to grill the 13 candidates — 7 women and 6 men — about their record and vision for the future. Questions were fielded from all over the world as thousands of citizens took part in the meetings.

“So that was the revolution really: as soon as there were candidates, visions and CVs in the public domain, suddenly that unlocked a whole swathe of openness, as well as expansive debates in the GA hall about the future of the UN: What sort of organization should we be? And how can we transform to a healthier, more open organization in order to deal with catastrophes facing humanity?” Donaldson told Arab News.

Two groups in the General Assembly became the strongest advocates for an open and inclusive process and soon joined efforts with 1 for 7 Billion — the Accountability, Coherence, and Transparency (ACT) group of 25 states, of which Jordan and Saudi Arabia are members, and the 120 states that form the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), coordinated by Algeria.




United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pays his respect after laying a wreath on the grave of Dag Hammarskjold, who served as UN Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in Uppsala, Sweden, on April 22, 2018. (AFP/File Photo)

For years they had been calling for a stronger General Assembly role in the selection, and for more transparency and inclusivity.

“But reforms only went so far,” Donaldson said. “Because after the period of inclusivity and transparency during the 2016 race, the process returned to the Security Council where the decision as to who was to become the next secretary-general happened behind closed doors where the Permanent Members hold a veto. The Security Council then recommended a single candidate for the General Assembly to appoint.

“So, the reforms stayed true to the UN Charter but, crucially, the will of the General Assembly was able to mitigate the will of the P5 and that represents a huge success. At 1 for 7, we are delighted that we were able to chip away at some of the power and privilege that P5 has been able to cling on to for years.”




United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) meets with Swedish Crown Princess Victoria at the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation in Uppsala, Sweden, on April 22, 2018. (AFP/File Photo)

With Guterres’ first term ending just a year from now, Donaldson has urged the president of the 75th General Assembly to work with his counterpart in the Security Council to kickstart the selection process by outlining a well-structured plan for the appointment of the next secretary-general.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, General Assembly meetings intended to refine the selection process — particularly important this time around, as it could involve an incumbent standing for a second term — did not take place.

“Due to this upheaval, we could find ourselves inadvertently missing an opportunity to consolidate the fantastic reforms which took place in 2015-16,” Donaldson said. “By extension, the UN could be missing out on the chance to bolster its legitimacy by running a transparent, inclusive process to appoint its next leader.”

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Twitter: @EphremKossaify


Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

Updated 04 April 2025
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Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

  • Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app, which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the Defense Department’s secure communications network.
Hegseth’s use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chain included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.
“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,” the acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, said in a notification letter to Hegseth.
The letter also said his office “will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements.”
Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations, and it is not clear if copies of the discussions were forwarded to an official email so they could be permanently captured for federal records keeping.
The Pentagon referred all questions to the inspector general’s office, citing the ongoing investigation.
President Donald Trump grew frustrated when asked about the review.
“You’re bringing that up again,” Trump scoffed at a reporter. “Don’t bring that up again. Your editors probably — that’s such a wasted story.”
In the chain, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.
The review was launched at the request of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat.
In congressional hearings, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the use of Signal and pressed military officers on whether they would find it appropriate to use the commercial app to discuss military operations.
Both current and former military officials have said the level of detail Hegseth shared on Signal most likely would have been classified. The Trump administration has insisted no classified information was shared.
Waltz is fighting back against calls for his ouster and, so far, Trump has said he stands by his national security adviser.
On Thursday, Trump fired several members of Waltz’s staff after far-right activist Laura Loomer urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said.
In his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, would not say whether the officials should have used a more secure communications system to discuss the attack plans.
“What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine told senators.


Putin envoy says diplomatic solution possible but differences remain after US talks

Updated 04 April 2025
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Putin envoy says diplomatic solution possible but differences remain after US talks

WASHINGTON: A senior Russian envoy on Thursday said differences remain between the US and Russia but a diplomatic solution to bring an end to the war in Ukraine is possible.
“I think (with) the Trump administration, we are now in realm of thinking about what is possible, what can really work, and how we can find a long term solution,” Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, told CNN following talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington.


US Senate Republican pushes for congressional approval of president’s tariffs

Updated 04 April 2025
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US Senate Republican pushes for congressional approval of president’s tariffs

  • The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority

WASHINGTON: Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley introduced a bill on Thursday that would require congressional approval for new tariffs, the day after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new taxes on a vast array of imported goods.
Grassley, whose home state of Iowa relies heavily on the global agricultural trade, joined Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington for the “Trade Review Act of 2025” which would require Congress to sign off on new tariffs within 60 days of their imposition or automatically block their enforcement. The move, made the day after four other Senate Republicans voted for a measure that would lift Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, was the latest sign of dissent among Republicans as Trump’s aggressive moves fanned recessionary fears and sparked Wall Street’s worst day since 2022.
Neither Grassley’s bill nor the measure that passed the Senate on Wednesday were seen as likely to become law while Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, where many of their members are voicing support for Trump’s moves.
Trump, who has long advocated for tariffs, said that the highest US trade barriers in more than a century would both raise federal revenue and drive manufacturing back to the US Economists have voiced deep skepticism about both possibilities.
Grassley, the longest-serving member of the US Senate, did not directly criticize Trump in introducing his bill. He noted that he had proposed a similar trade approach during Trump’s first administration, citing the US Constitution establishing congressional authority over trade issues, but that over time the legislature has ceded this power to the executive branch.
But some Republicans have indicated unease with parts of Trump’s tariff plans.
“I would have expected more targeted tariffs to meet the needs of where countries are taking advantage of us, and perhaps a more modest approach in the amounts,” Republican Senator Jerry Moran told reporters. He also expressed concerns that tariffs placed on US allies in Southeast Asia were similar to those placed on China, which he called a “damaging” economy to the US
Republican Senator James Lankford said he was surprised by the 17 percent tariff on Israel and hoped the US Trade Representative could explain why the tariff level on Israel was different from other countries. Republican senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell — the chamber’s former Republican leader — provided the votes on Wednesday to pass Democratic Senator Tim Kaine’s disapproval resolution on the Trump trade approach toward Canada.
“Tariffs drive up the cost of goods and services. They are a tax on everyday working Americans,” McConnell said in a statement on Thursday.
About half of Americans, and one in five Republicans, believe that increasing tariffs on imports will do more harm than good, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found. The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority. Indeed, the House earlier this month passed a measure meant to strip Congress’ power to challenge new tariffs imposed by the president.
“The president has been talking about unfair trade against the United States for 40 years, so he’s been very consistent on this,” said Senator John Barrasso, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican. “Long-term, I think this is very important for the country, bringing jobs and manufacturing back to America, focusing on our economy.”
Grassley’s Democratic co-sponsor, Cantwell, said that Trump’s tariffs risked long-term damage to the US economy.
“We can’t afford a trade war that lasts for two or three years, leaving our product off the shelves,” Cantwell said. “We cannot have arbitrary policies that create chaos and uncertainty.”


Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris

Updated 04 April 2025
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Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris

  • Bouffard said the damage to the known sites as well as treasures potentially hidden in unexplored Palestinian land “depends on the bomb tonnage and their impact on the surface and underground”

PARIS: A new exhibition opening in Paris on Friday showcases archaeological artifacts from Gaza, once a major commercial crossroads between Asia and Africa, whose heritage has been ravaged by Israel’s ongoing onslaught.
Around a hundred artifacts, including a 4,000-year-old bowl, a sixth-century mosaic from a Byzantine church and a Greek-inspired statue of Aphrodite, are on display at the Institut du Monde Arabe.
The rich and mixed collection speaks to Gaza’s past as a cultural melting pot, but the show’s creators also wanted to highlight the contemporary destruction caused by the war, sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.
“The priority is obviously human lives, not heritage,” said Elodie Bouffard, curator of the exhibition, which is titled “Saved Treasures of Gaza: 5,000 Years of History.”
“But we also wanted to show that, for millennia, Gaza was the endpoint of caravan routes, a port that minted its own currency, and a city that thrived at the meeting point of water and sand,” she told AFP.
One section of the exhibition documents the extent of recent destruction.
Using satellite image, the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO has already identified damage to 94 heritage sites in Gaza, including the 13th-century Pasha’s Palace.
Bouffard said the damage to the known sites as well as treasures potentially hidden in unexplored Palestinian land “depends on the bomb tonnage and their impact on the surface and underground.”
“For now, it’s impossible to assess.”
The attacks by Hamas militants on Israel in 2023 left 1,218 dead. In retaliation, Israeli operations have killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and devastated the densely populated territory.

The story behind “Gaza’s Treasures” is inseparable from the ongoing wars in the Middle East.
At the end of 2024, the Institut du Monde Arabe was finalizing an exhibition on artifacts from the archaeological site of Byblos in Lebanon, but Israeli bombings on Beirut made the project impossible.
“It came to a sudden halt, but we couldn’t allow ourselves to be discouraged,” said Bouffard.
The idea of an exhibition on Gaza’s heritage emerged.
“We had just four and a half months to put it together. That had never been done before,” she explained.
Given the impossibility of transporting artifacts out of Gaza, the Institut turned to 529 pieces stored in crates in a specialized Geneva art warehouse since 2006. The works belong to the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank.

The Oslo Accords of 1993, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, helped secure some of Gaza’s treasures.
In 1995, Gaza’s Department of Antiquities was established, which oversaw the first archaeological digs in collaboration with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem (EBAF).
Over the years, excavations uncovered the remains of the Monastery of Saint Hilarion, the ancient Greek port of Anthedon, and a Roman necropolis — traces of civilizations spanning from the Bronze Age to Ottoman influences in the late 19th century.
“Between Egypt, Mesopotamian powers, and the Hasmoneans, Gaza has been a constant target of conquest and destruction throughout history,” Bouffard noted.
In the 4th century BC, Greek leader Alexander the Great besieged the city for two months, leaving behind massacres and devastation.
Excavations in Gaza came to a standstill when Hamas took power in 2007 and Israel imposed a blockade.
Land pressure and rampant building in one of the world’s most densely populated areas has also complicated archaeological work.
And after a year and a half of war, resuming excavations seems like an ever-more distant prospect.
The exhibition runs until November 2, 2025.
 

 


Uganda’s president arrives in S.Sudan as crisis deepens

Updated 03 April 2025
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Uganda’s president arrives in S.Sudan as crisis deepens

  • The Ugandan leader, whose military was invited into South Sudan last month to help secure the capital, did not refer directly to the crisis in public remarks at the airport in Juba

NAIROBI: Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni arrived in neighboring South Sudan on Thursday, in the highest level mission there since clashes and the detention of the vice president triggered regional fears of a return to civil war.
Museveni was met at the airport by South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, whose administration has accused First Vice President Riek Machar of stoking rebellion and put him under house arrest.
The Ugandan leader, whose military was invited into South Sudan last month to help secure the capital, did not refer directly to the crisis in public remarks at the airport in Juba.
The visit follows mediation missions by the African Union and an East African regional body this week to de-escalate the crisis.
Museveni told reporters he would hold talks “aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation between our two nations.”
Kiir said the two leaders would discuss “current political developments in the country.”
The standoff between Kiir and Machar, who led opposing forces in a 2013-2018 civil war that killed hundreds of thousands, has prompted the UN to warn that the world’s young nation could be on the brink of all-out conflict along ethnic lines.
Uganda backed Kiir’s forces during the civil war.
It sent troops last month amid fighting between South Sudan’s military and an ethnic Nuer militia in Upper Nile state in the northeast.
Machar’s predominantly Nuer forces were allied with the White Army militia during the civil war, but his party denies government accusations of ongoing links.
Uganda’s military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, also Museveni’s son, said on Tuesday he had ordered Ugandan forces to stop attacking the White Army so long as it ceases offensives against Ugandan troops.
Machar’s party says the Ugandan intervention violates South Sudan’s arms embargo.
Analysts say Kiir, 73, appears to be attempting to shore up his position amid discontent within his political camp and speculation about his succession plan.