Van Chitgo - The Art of Life

The job description
ROLE
Superdiplomat and manager for 181 countries.

QUALIFICATIONS
Previous experience as CEO, cheerleader, salesman, debt collector, priest are all useful. Fluency in English and French required.

SALARY :$397,245 per annum.

PERKS
$25,000 expenses per annum. Official residence in Manhattan.

The front-runners
Ban Ki-moon
South Korea's Foreign Minister. Age: 61
Career diplomat who has served at the UN and been involved in talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons. Not a household name outside Asia. May have support from US but could run into difficulties with China because of Seoul's military relationship with Washington. He speaks fluent French.

Mary Robinson
President of Ethical Globalisation Initiative. Age: 61
Served as first female President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and went on to become UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002, when the US blocked her from another term. Has said she would not seek the top UN post, but she may be persuaded. America might veto.

Kemal Dervis
Turkish head of UN Development Programme. Age: 57
Former Turkish finance minister, educated in Britain and America, who previously worked in various positions for World Bank, including vice-president for Middle East region. Also served as an MP. Has US support, but Turkey's Nato membership would be a negative factor for Russia.

Jose Ramos-Horta
East Timor's Foreign Minister. Age: 56
Nobel peace prize winner (with Timor's Bishop Carlos Belo) in recognition of their struggle for independence in East Timor. Led a decades-long campaign as spokesman-in-exile. Known internationally from his campaigning days. Probably has American backing. Not a declared candidate.

Vaira Vike-Freiberga
President of Latvia. Age: 69
Serving her second term as President of Latvia and wants to be first female UN secretary general. Overcame strong Euroscepticism when Latvia joined EU. Educated in Canada, and known as the "Baltic Iron Lady", her support for the war in Iraq would make her a controversial choice. Her age could count against her.

Jayantha Dhanapala
Senior adviser to the president of Sri Lanka. Age: 67
Involved in peace negotiations with Sri Lankan rebels and regarded as the best diplomat Sri Lanka has ever produced. Well known at the UN, where he was disarmament chief in New York. Needs Chinese support to be successful. Age is likely to be a factor that counts against him.

Aleksander Kwasniewski
Former president of Poland. Age: 51
Former Communist turned reformer who as President of Poland from 1995 until last year brought his country into the EU and forged closer ties with Nato. Seen as a US candidate - Russia has made it known it does not want a candidate from eastern Europe.

Tony Blair
British Prime Minister. Age: 52
Could be free by the end of the year to take up position with global reach. Adopted UN development goals as his own but decision to ignore UN over Iraq invasion could be problematic. France and Russia could veto. Candidates from permanent members of UN Security Council are unlikely to succeed.

Surakiart Sathirathai
Thai Deputy Prime Minister. Age: 47
The first Thai to earn a doctorate in law from Harvard, he became Thailand's youngest Finance Minister. As Foreign Minister he dealt with the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister last year. Official Asian candidate.

Posted by chitgo on Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 2/16/2006 03:40:00 PM | Permalink