ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT WELCOMES SECRETARY-GENERAL-DESIGNATE INTO COLLECTIVE ENDEAVOUR TO STEER UN COURSE TO BETTER SERVE NEEDS OF HUMANITY
Press Release
GA/9210
ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT WELCOMES SECRETARY-GENERAL-DESIGNATE INTO COLLECTIVE ENDEAVOUR TO STEER UN COURSE TO BETTER SERVE NEEDS OF HUMANITY
19961217 Following is the statement made today by the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), at the plenary on agenda item 16 -- appointment of the Secretary-General:We have just taken action to appoint the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. We have also placed on record our recognition of the contribution made by Boutros Boutros-Ghali to the work of the United Nations. This is an auspicious moment.
Dr. Boutros-Ghali became Secretary-General of the United Nations at a time of unprecedented change and considerable flux in the world. Notwithstanding the challenges, he has served the United Nations with dedication and selfless service, and with resolute sense of purpose. Dr. Boutros-Ghali will be remembered for his seminal intellectual contributions to our understanding of preventive diplomacy, humanitarian intervention, and democratic nation-building; and for laying the essential building blocks for the reform and revitalization of the United Nations system. Under his guidance, the United Nations charted a better understanding of the multi-faceted implications of our globalizing world through a series of world conferences. His legacy will serve us well in the challenging years ahead.
It is a singular honour for me, the President of the fifty-first General Assembly, to welcome, on behalf of all Member States, our Secretary-General- designate, Kofi Annan. Both you and the incumbent are illustrious sons of Africa. In appointing you to this key post, the General Assembly takes into account your long record of accomplishment and your understanding of the needs of this Organization at this critical juncture. You are well known to all of us. We place our trust in your ability to articulate and defend a vision of the United Nations that meets the expectations of Member States and the peoples of the world.
It is no easy task. The Charter itself specifies relatively little beyond assigning an administrative and political function to the Secretary- General. For marginal elaboration, General Assembly resolution 11 (1) in 1946 speaks in stilted and sexist terms of "a man of eminence and high attainment".
The oath of office provides a little more illumination by referring to the Secretary-General discharging functions and regulating conduct with the interests of the United Nations only in view, and not to seek or accept instructions ... from any government or other external authority.
Given these vague terms, it is left to us Member States and the incoming Secretary-General to make the most of the United Nations penchant for constructive ambiguity, and to trace the parameters of the role more precisely. The debate will not finish. At the end of the day, it is only in the performance of your office in all its aspects that you will be judged.
The agony and ecstasy of "secretary-generalship" include what can and cannot be done in the battle against "empire builders", and against the vacuous who repose comfortably in the United Nations without a care for multilateral issues. Good leadership and consummate management skills are needed to inspire a dedicated staff to work with unquestioned integrity and creativity. Although many are brilliant, some are creatures of habit and process, suffering apoplexy at each prospect of change. The United Nations should not be donor driven, we do not covet the Bretton Woods impersonation award. And although finance and finite resources may be facts of life, the Secretary-General should not have to pose as mendicant, petitioning governments and legislatures alike, at the expense of all else.
The Secretary-General has increasingly become a focal point for preventive diplomacy and a bully pulpit for the articulation of global perspectives. Despite possessing little power in traditional terms, the Secretary-General nevertheless retains the power of persuasion, knowing the message will be heard no matter how unpopular or inconvenient. This General Assembly believes in a Secretary-General with an independent perspective in defence of the Charter. With discretion, authority and responsibility, the Secretary-General must speak up and act for the wider international interest, one that transcends that of any particular country or region, and greater than the sum total of power dictates. Every important action the Secretary-General takes has a legal dimension, and while the success of these actions may not be ensured by legalism, any serious departure from the legal mandate will put the United Nations at risk.
Former Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said in 1986, "The Secretary-General is the bearer of a sacred trust and the guardian of the principles of the Charter ... [and] ... to understand correctly the role of the Secretary-General is to appreciate the whole mission of the United Nations." Ultimately, it is not important that you are a world leader, so long as you are able to influence the opinions and decisions of world leaders. In bearing this sacred trust, you should defend the marginalized, and not those who create and enforce the marginalized.
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Such an office does not undermine the primacy of the intergovernmental process in any way. Let me say that as Member States, we see ourselves as partners and not competitors. Multilateral organizations and multilateralism can and do work when Member States and Secretariat believe they are on the same team. You take office at a time of deep crisis for the United Nations, when its coffers are all but empty, and important States place inordinate and unfair demands on the Organization, while others dwell more on what is wrong rather than what can be done. Each of us has decisive steps to take to learn from the lessons and the dead-ends of the recent past, and to collectively define the architecture of the United Nations for the twenty-first century.
Today's appointment of a new Secretary-General is a landmark in the life of the United Nations. The process we have just come through had ingredients that would make it go astray. I believe wise decisions taken as a result of wise counsel arrested what could have brought impasse and discredit to the United Nations integrity. Many parties, particularly in Africa, took steps to ensure that the office remained with Africa, to the satisfaction of all. Decisions to strengthen the United Nations in the future should draw more from democratic well-springs to balance power factors.
The process of succession is about change and about continuity. Although we need to reform the United Nations and regain confidence in its central authority, we are not forfeiting the past and its achievements. Like a rock climber, the Organization must scale new heights by advancing slowly, or sometimes boldly, whether deliberately or unconsciously, but always keeping three limbs attached to already established territory, while probing for a new hold with the fourth. The Member States and the Secretary-General are linked together to advance and consolidate their hold on the international landscape.
To paraphrase a Chinese saying, every crisis is an opportunity in disguise. If we can, with wisdom and integrity, take note of the compass of our actions, we may draw benefit in our attempts to steer a course that better serves the needs of humanity. Mr. Secretary-General-designate, we warmly welcome you to this collective endeavour.
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