Who will lead U.N.? Hopefuls audition

Asians say the next secretary general should come from their region.
WASHINGTON POST
UNITED NATIONS -- The campaign for U.N. secretary general is moving into high gear, as jet-setting candidates audition in New York, Washington and other capitals for a shot at the world's most prominent diplomatic job.
Even though Kofi Annan's second five-year term runs through December 2006, a handful of aspirants already are hard at work, advertising their qualifications at international summits and appealing for backing from the United States and other Security Council members.
Names of possible candidates being floated by U.N. diplomats include a Polish president, a Jordanian prince, a Turkish economist and an Indian novelist. Only two governments have officially declared candidates: Sri Lanka named diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, and Thailand named Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, a Harvard-trained lawyer who has been campaigning for more than a year.
Bitter conflict
The new secretary general will have to find a way to lead a 191-nation organization where bitter disagreements linger over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and where tension has been rising between the major powers and poorer nations, some of which fear that the drive to streamline the bureaucracy will ultimately dilute their power.
Annan's successor also will be faced with restoring public confidence in an institution battered by revelations of sexual misconduct by U.N. peacekeepers and corruption in the oil-for-food program.
Asians contend that the next secretary general should come from their region because an Asian has not held the job since 1971, when U Thant of Burma completed a 10-year term.
Russia and China agree but the Bush administration opposes the concept of regional rotation and has urged aspirants from around the world to compete. "We don't believe that the next secretary general belongs to any particular region," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said.
There are no specific qualifications for secretary general. Previous officeholders have been drawn from the international diplomatic corps or, in Annan's case, from the U.N. bureaucracy.