Analysts urge ASEAN to have its own candidate for United Nations top post
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia should push for a consensus among ASEAN member countries on fielding a single candidate for the prestigious post of United Nations Secretary-General, analysts say.
However, the analysts divided on whether Indonesia should put forward its own candidate for the post when incumbent UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's second term ends in December 2006.
"This is a strategic position. I believe Indonesia qualifies for proposing one of its distinguished diplomats for the UN's top post," Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a prominent analyst well-versed in international issues from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, told The Jakarta Post.
"I agree that ASEAN should field a single candidate, but I will propose Pak Ali Alatas. He is a senior and respected diplomat," she said.
Alatas, one of the country's top diplomats, a mediator and former minister of foreign affairs from 1988 to 1999, played a very crucial role in ending the Cambodian crisis.
In 1996, a number of Asian countries nominated him as UN secretary-general.
Bantarto Bandoro, a foreign policy expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, has a different view: "Indonesia should not put forward any candidate for the UN's top post."
Bantarto, also the editor of the respected The Indonesian Quarterly journal, told the Post that the government would face difficulties in garnering international support, mainly because its international image was shattered after a series of deadly bomb attacks over the past few years.
"Although we have experienced diplomats, I personally think it will be better if we support ASEAN's single candidate," he said.
He admitted that, in terms of individual capacity, Alatas was the right man for the post.
Dewi and Bantarto both agree that Indonesia, in its capacity as ASEAN chair, should urge a common candidate for the top UN post.
Even if ASEAN proposes only one candidate, it will not affect the chances of his or her success as ASEAN, a regional grouping, has no legal status at the UN.
"ASEAN has only an observer status (in the UN), so its bargaining position is weak," said Andi Widjajanto, head of research at the Centre for International Relations at the University of Indonesia.
"We have a good track record in fighting terrorism, but the East Timor issues will be the main hurdle if Indonesia wants to push forward its candidate for the UN post," he said, referring to alleged cases of human rights abuse by Indonesian forces in the former territory.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said the government had yet to discuss whether or not to propose a candidate from Indonesia as UN secretary-general.
The debate has stretched from Jakarta to London, where Indonesian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prof. Juwono Sudarsono has another perspective on the matter.
Juwono, the country's topmost international relations expert and former defense minister, personally feels that the next UN chief should come from one of the Scandinavian countries.
"A Scandinavian country is prosperous, not too powerful economically or politically, and neutral enough to provide cool- headed leadership and can provide a good balance between 'human security' and 'humanitarian interventionism'," he said via e-mail to the Post's query.
"A Scandinavian country would not risk rejection from the U.S. -- the only major power that has outgrown the UN's outdated structure -- and can therefore effectively dismiss any candidate from any countries it doesn't particularly favor.
"Despite the notion of (it being) Asia's turn to become the next UN Secretary-General, in my view no Asian or ASEAN foreign minister currently fits the bill," he said.
In regards Alatas' qualifications for the post, he said: "Alatas would have made a good secretary-general four years ago..."
Although there is still two years to go, the race for the top UN job kicked off in Asia early this month.
Thailand's highly ambitious billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, according to the Nation newspaper, plans to field his foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai as a candidate. The Thai government disseminated its plans early this month to ASEAN foreign ministers during their retreat in Halong Bay, Vietnam.
Malaysia also wants to put forward its former foreign minister Musa Hitam as a candidate.
Meanwhile, ASEAN must try to rouse support from other regional powers like China, India and Japan and convince the UN Security Council that it is Asia's turn to lead the UN.
The General Assembly appoints a UN Secretary-General on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council for a five-year term.
Myanmar's U Thant, who was UN Secretary-General from 1961 to 1971, is the only Asian who has held the post since the organization's establishment.