UN boss infuriated with world leaders

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon says he’s disappointed by many world leaders who care more about retaining power than improving the lives of their people – and can’t understand why Syria is being held hostage to ‘‘the destiny’’ of one man, President Bashar al-Assad.

Nearing the end of his 10 years at the helm of the UN, Ban spoke frankly about the state of the world and his successes, failures and frustrations as UN chief.

‘‘People say I have been quiet, and I have not been speaking out about human rights, but I can tell you I have been speaking out [more] than any of the Western leaders’’, who ‘‘are very cautious’’, he said.

Ban also spoke candidly about his frustration at the way the UN operates.

The UN could be far more efficient and effective if there were ‘‘some reasonable decision-making process’’, he said, rather than one that required consensus on many issues before the General Assembly and statements by the Security Council. This gave one country the power to block something all other nations agreed on, or to water it down.

Ban said his generation in South Korea was educated in the ancient Chinese teachings of Confucius, which emphasise harmony, humaneness, compassion, propriety and honesty. ‘‘And I have been putting public interest first, over private interest.’’

Comparing his approach to Western leaders, Ban said they usually spoke through statements, which was easy, and sometimes they had pressured him not to say something or visit some country.

But he said he ‘‘proceeded as I wanted’’ because he believed faceto-face meetings with world leaders were critical to try to get support on ending conflicts or on issues like climate change and combating poverty.

‘‘[Many leaders] . . . are mostly corrupted, and they do not respect the voices of the people.’’ Ban Ki Moon

‘‘I can issue a hundred statements from here, but if you really want to get that apple dropped, you have to go and shake the apple tree,’’ he said.

The turmoil the world was suffering today wasn’t from the people, but was ‘‘caused by the leaders’’, he said.

For many leaders, the key was to be elected ‘‘by whatever means’’, Ban said. ‘‘Once elected . . . they rule over people, and they are mostly corrupted, and they do not respect the voices of the people.’’

Speaking with evident frustration about the more than fiveyear conflict in Syria, Ban said: ‘‘I simply cannot understand why we have not been able to resolve this issue.’’

‘‘One man’s destiny should not work as a hostage of all this crisis,’’ Ban said, referring to the dispute between pro-government and opposition supporters over whether Assad should have any role in Syria’s future.