SYG SELECTION: NEW CANDIDATE(S?) AND A STRAW POLL

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 001759 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2016 TAGS: PREL UNSC UN SUBJECT: SYG SELECTION: NEW CANDIDATE(S?) AND A STRAW POLL ON 9/14 REF: A. USUN 1347 ¶B. AMMAN 6932 Classified By: Ambassador Jackie W. Sanders for reasons 1.4 b,d. ¶1. (U) Summary. In the past week, at least one candidate (Jordan's Prince Zeid) has joined the four candidates for Secretary-General already notified to the Security Council. SIPDIS A second additional candidate, European Parliamentarian Nirj Deva, has also informed the Council of his nomination by the Government of Fiji, however there remains some uncertainty about the status of his nomination due to conflicting messages from the Fijian Permanent Representative here in New York. The Security Council, meeting in "informal informals" on September 6 under the Greek Presidency, agreed to conduct the next straw poll on Thursday, September 14 using the same modalities as agreed upon in July (no differentiation between the ballots of permanent and non-permanent members). The Council also agreed to indicate publicly that there would be another ballot prior to the end of September. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The Jordanians have officially submitted to the Security Council the long-rumored Secretary-General candidacy of their Permanent Representative, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein (ref b). Prince Zeid's nomination has been accepted by the Council as consistent with the procedures agreed upon earlier, and he will be included in future straw poll ballots alongside the four candidates previously nominated. ¶3. (C) European Parliamentarian (and dual UK and Sri Lankan national) Niranjan Deva-Aditya wrote to Council President Vassilakis on September 4 to "transmit" a letter from Fijian Foreign Minister Tavola, dated July 18, that appears to offer Fiji's nomination of Deva to the Council. As standard procedure would normally have a Foreign Minister's letter conveyed to the Council via the Permanent Representative (and given that the July 18 letter did not make it to the Council until September),Vassilakis asked Fiji's PR if he intended to submit the letter to the Council. In response, the Fijian PR sent a note to Vassilakis on September 6 that said, "all correspondence purporting to have received Fiji's nomination to this high post is to be disregarded." (All of these letters have been forwarded to IO/UNP.) Meeting in "informal informals" on September 6, Council PRs agreed that - given the contradictory information - Deva could not yet be considered an official candidate. Vassilakis undertook to follow-up with the Fijian PR, and Council members with representation in Suva agreed to seek additional information in capital. (Comment: Barring any additional information from the Fijians, we expect that the Council would not/not include Deva on straw poll ballots. End Comment) ¶4. (C) Council PRs, in the meeting on September 6, agreed to conduct the next straw poll of candidates (five at current count) on the morning of Thursday, September 14. Vassilakis argued that such a poll, prior to the arrival of high-level delegations for the 61st UNGA, would help frame the discussion for Ministers and would restore momentum to the process, which has essentially been dormant since late July. The majority of Council members joined him in supporting this approach and emphasized that the poll should be on the same basis as July's ballot: no differentiation between permanent and non-permanent votes, while providing the options for Council members to "encourage", "discourage", or express "no opinion" on the candidates. The U.S., Japan, and the UK argued most strongly for an early poll. Council PRs unanimously expressed support for maintaining the "target" of taking a formal decision in October on a recommendation to the General Assembly. Most Council members noted that delaying a ballot past the UNGA would make it increasingly likely that the Council would miss that objective. ¶5. (C) French PR de La Sabliere, while noting his support for an early poll, said that he was more focused on Council actions towards the end of the month when, he suggested, the Council needed to give a significant "push" to the process, including by the use of differentiated ballots for permanent members. Council PRs did not take a decision on whether or not to introduce differentiated ballots in a subsequent poll, but did agree to signal publicly the "intent" to have another ballot prior to the end of the month. (Vassilakis suggested September 28.) ¶6. (C) Only Chinese PR Wang argued strongly against a poll prior to the UNGA, suggesting that delay would bring forward more candidates. Wang said that the Council needed to "leave room for others to come into the race, in order to ensure we choose the best qualified candidate." Other Council members, including Russia and Slovakia, noted their understanding of Wang's arguments, but expressed more flexibility about the timing. In the end, the general understanding that another poll - if conducted on the same basis as July's poll - would "do no harm" carried the day. ¶7. (U) Vassilakis agreed to communicate the decisions of the Council first to the President of the General Assembly (as per previous Council practice) for dissemination to the broader membership. He would then brief the press. (Note: he completed both of these tasks on the evening of September 6.) ¶8. (C) In closing, Council PRs had a brief discussion about whether to change the procedure of notifying candidates of the straw poll results. Vassilakis suggested that it might be appropriate to make the results known to the press, as they were being leaked to reporters in any case. The Council did not rally behind this idea. These "were not formal votes", said de La Sabliere. Announcing the results in an official way would give the ballots a status they did not deserve, he argued, and would put the candidates in the uncomfortable position of having to answer public questions about their performance. The PRs agreed that Vassilakis would follow the same procedure as in July: results will be notified to the candidates themselves, and to the delegation which nominated each of them. BOLTON