An independent UN

The confusion in the Security Council that arose with regard to the selection of the new United Nations secretary-general strengthens the impression that the UN as a world body can be manipulated in the interest of the council's permanent members, in this case the United States. The official reason given for the U.S.'s rejection of Boutros Boutros-Ghali was that the UN needed a new leader to oversee the restructuring of the world body to make it more efficient.

In reality, Boutros-Ghali has done a lot to make the UN more efficient and democratic. It seems, however, in his efforts to democratize the world body, Boutros-Ghali displeased the U.S. with his ideas. First, he proposed that the UN budget be borne collectively on an equal basis and not as at present, where the U.S. contributes 25 percent of the budget. But Boutros-Ghali's proposal was viewed by the U.S. as an attempt to dilute its influence. Second, when visiting Germany, Boutros-Ghali welcomed a German offer to move some offices from the UN headquarters in New York to Germany, with all facilities provided free of charge. The U.S. strongly opposed this plan, once again because it was seen as an effort to free the world body from the U.S.'s influence. The real reason was that a move away from New York would adversely affect the city's economy.

Thus, it can be said that the rejection of Boutros Boutros- Ghali was dictated, to a large extent, by U.S. interests rather than by a desire to restructure the UN. The world naturally hopes the new secretary-general will be able to demonstrate the world body's ability to resist pressure from the major powers.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta