Clark falters as horse trading affects UN vote
Helen Clark needed things to go her way yesterday, but the latest round of voting on the next United Nations boss has failed to boost her prospects.
The former New Zealand prime minister placed seventh in the poll – six votes in favour, eight discourage votes and one ‘‘no opinion’’. Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres is still the frontrunner.
The two bottom candidates were Natalie Gherman and world climate change tsar Christina Figueres, and there is now speculation they will drop out of the race.
If the vote was by popular choice, Clark would have been a frontrunner. Her bid for the top job has had a huge head of steam on social media and elsewhere, thanks to her high visibility on Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat.
Clark has been the flag-bearer for the push to appoint a woman secretarygeneral for the first time in the UN’s 70-year history. And she is also seen as representative of the mood among the wider UN membership to decide the next secretary-general on competency.
But Clark is caught in the middle of a battle for influence and geopolitical horse trading between the United States and Russia, two of the most powerful members of the so-called P5 club – the five permanent members of the 15-member UN Security Council.
Clark received a much higher number of votes ‘‘discouraging’ her candidacy in the early rounds of voting, suggesting that at least one of the permanent members voted against her. This increases the likelihood of Clark facing a veto down the line.
Prime Minister John Key has acknowledged Clark’s failure to get more traction was, in part, a result of her lacking a ‘‘champion’’ among those P5 members. But sources suggest Clark’s high profile has also made her a victim of ‘‘tall poppy syndrome’’.
Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully have been on a worldwide charm offensive in support of Clark but have so far failed to make the difference. Even a personal approach by Key to US President Barack Obama appears to have been rebuffed, with the US widely believed to be backing the Argentine foreign minister, Susana Malcorra.
But Malcorra, seen as the establishment candidate after previously serving as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon’s offsider, might struggle to survive a veto by Russia.
The Russians, meanwhile, have made no bones about their preference for an Eastern European candidate, says Key.
But like Malcorra, any favoured candidate of Russia faces a veto by the US.
Clark had always hoped to emerge as the compromise candidate once the dust had settled on the vetoes, but Guterres appears poised to take that title instead.
As a temporary member of the Security Council, New Zealand is believed to have used its vote during the last straw poll to oppose Guterres, largely as a spoiling tactic, though the Government refuses to say.
Speaking before the result was announced, Labour MP Phil Goff said Clark would have to reconsider her campaign if she fell in the straw poll. Her strongest chance was to come through as a compromise candidate, although that would depend on what the P5 wanted – a strong secretary-general or someone ‘‘more flexible’’.
She was unlikely to stay on at the UN if knocked back for the top job and could return to New Zealand, although there would be plenty of jobs on offer for her elsewhere.
‘‘She’s worked so hard for so many years, she’d be a fantastic ambassador for New Zealand anywhere in the world,’’ Goff said.
Labour foreign affairs spokesman David Shearer, who worked at the UN for nearly 20 years, said Clark should ‘‘absolutely’’ stay in the race.
‘‘If there’s a standoff between the United States and Russia . . . if they cancel each other’s candidates out, then there’s a chance for Helen to come through the middle.’’
However, there was a chance she would ‘‘look at what her options are’’ if she fell in the poll and other candidates increased their support.