New UN assembly president is the most vocal in years
New UN assembly president is the most vocal in years
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuter): Razali Ismail of Malaysia assumed the prestigious post of General Assembly president Tuesday as a man with a reputation for speaking his mind on nearly every issue facing the United Nations.
Razali, 57, opposed the Gulf War although he voted in the Security Council to authorize the use of force. He is a persistent critic of big power domination, a champion of development and a leading advocate on environmental issues. He also displays a knowledge and irreverent disregard for many UN procedures, mechanisms and meetings.
"He is intelligent, gifted and has the determination to get things done more than anyone we have seen for a long time," said Australia's Ambassador Richard Butler. "He is quite extraordinary."
Razali, Malaysia's UN ambassador since 1988, did not disappoint in his inaugural speech, chastising his colleagues for enjoying the good life. "Maybe UN delegates are too distant from the problems they are charged to address, and the camaraderie of diplomatic life has softened the edges of critical judgment," he said.
Most recently he criticized the big powers on nuclear disarmament, although he ended up voting for the nuclear test ban treaty, saying: "There is a very clear impression that the club of nuclear countries are manipulating the entire nuclear disarmament processes to serve their own agenda."
And his country is nearly alone among developing nations in opposing a second term by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros- Ghali, mainly because of his handling of the war in Bosnia. The assembly appoints a secretary-general on recommendation of the Security Council, which means in theory it could play a major role in the selection, but the issue is expected to be settled before it reaches the assembly.
His new job will be to focus on raising the influence of the 185-seat General Assembly, which in recent years has often been eclipsed by the 15-member Security Council.
"We must not allow ourselves to cast about for solutions at the United Nations that will merely keep our own power and standards of living intact when we are determining the fate and livelihood of others," he said on Tuesday.
The assembly also deals with the UN financial crisis, caused mainly by the US$1.6 billion debt of the United States, that threatens to bring the organization to a halt next year.
At the same time the issue of expanding the Security Council drags on without any resolution in sight. It is a prime issue for the assembly president, which Razali addressed earlier.
"Preoccupation with the admission of two members (Germany and Japan) merely distorts important issues that must (also) be addressed ... increased workload, heightened expectations, questionable work methods and the absence of adequate representation, ambiguous mandates and objectives," he said.
He was a member of the Security Council during the Gulf War and, along with Cuba, Colombia and Yemen, formed a so-called "Gang of Four" that unsuccessfully sought to prevent the slide toward all-out war. He particularly chastised then-U.S. President George Bush for turning a deaf ear to Iraq's overtures to withdraw from Kuwait.
Razali was active in forging agreement on difficult issues at the Rio Earth summit and in 1993 was elected chairman of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which resulted from that conference. His bottom line position is that the Third World cannot continue destroying the environment but industrial nations must lower their own consumption and be more forthcoming in aid for developing countries.
"We think maybe the United States thinks it can continue its excessive consumption lifestyle (by) limiting the South," he said during the conference.
Before coming to the United Nations, he served in Malaysia's Foreign Ministry and was posted to India, France, Britain and Laos. He is married and has three children.
He was nominated for the General Assembly post by the Asian nations whose turn it was to select the presidency.