Clark’s bid for UN job suffers setback
Former prime minister Helen Clark is ‘‘pressing ahead towards the next poll’’ despite picking up an extra two discourage votes in the latest count for the top job at the United Nations.
Clark continues to lag in support to become the next UN secretary-general, with a new straw poll putting her seventh equal out of nine candidates.
Diplomats yesterday said Portugal’s former prime minister Antonio Guterres remained the top choice to succeed Ban Ki Moon, as the only candidate to reach the minimum nine required ‘‘yes’’ votes in the UN Security Council’s fifth informal poll.
The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the results of Monday’s vote were supposed to be kept secret, said Guterres – the UN’S refugee chief until last December – got 12 ‘‘encourage’’ votes, two ‘‘discourage’’ votes and one neutral vote.
Clark, in comparison, got six ‘‘encourage’’ votes, nine ‘‘discourage’’ votes, and no neutral votes. It was the first time she had received no ‘‘no opinion’’ votes, and she gained two extra discourage votes since the last straw poll.
Clark said yesterday that while she picked up more discourage votes in the latest round, she was still ‘‘in a group with most other candidates’’.
‘‘This was another positioning poll. We did not expect the results to be very different from the previous poll, and this turned out to be the case,’’ she said.
‘‘I am pressing ahead towards the next poll.’’
Tied in second place, but well behind Guterres, were Serbia’s former foreign minister Vuk Jeremic with an 8-6-1 vote, and Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak with an 8-7-0 vote.
Slovenia’s former president Danilo Turk and Argentina’s Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra – the highest-ranked female candidate – were tied for fourth with votes of 7-7-1, the diplomats said.
Unesco chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria was in sixth place with a 6-7-2 vote, and former Macedonian foreign minister Srgjan Kerim was tied with Clark on 6-9-0.
Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman was last with a vote of 3-11-1, the diplomats said.
Clark has already sent out a message via social media thanking UN Security Council members for their ‘‘continued support’’ and making it clear that she plans to stay in the race for the job of secretary-general.
However, she is bound to be disappointed after picking up extra discourage votes – especially on the back of a highprofile week with Prime Minister John Key, in New York chairing the security council.
Key introduced Clark to a number of influential players, including United States President Barack Obama, and also pushed her campaign hard in his speech to the UN General Assembly.
Key said yesterday the vote that counted would be in October, when the five permanent security council members could veto candidates.
‘‘At that point we’ll get a sense of what vetoes they apply, potentially not just to Helen Clark but to other candidates. If they start taking out some of the front runners, that gives her a gap to come through.’’
Key said he didn’t think Clark should drop out of the race, given how far she had come, but acknowledged that it could be a tough road ahead.
‘‘It’s highly likely the Russians, and potentially the French, will veto her. If she picks up a few more, then it will become more challenging for her.’’