DEMARCHE REQUEST - ELECTION FOR DIRECTOR GENERAL OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 UN ROME 000063

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

IO/HS FOR ROBERT DOWNES
USUN NEW YORK FOR MARY MCLEOD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EAID ECON
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST - ELECTION FOR DIRECTOR GENERAL OF
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LAW ORGANIZATION

REF: USUN ROME 0042

Summary and Action Request
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1. (SBU) Mission believes that a U.S. citizen candidate is by
far the most qualified of the six candidates competing for the
November 25 election for the next Director General (DG) of the
International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and recommends
that the American candidate, Thomas McInerney, be designated as
the official U.S. candidate for this position. If such a
determination is made, Mission will advocate for McInerney among
Rome-based delegations of the 21-member country organization and
recommends that the Department send demarches to member states
using the points in paragraph 9. End Summary and Action Request.





IDLO Advances Rule-of-Law

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2. (U) Originally founded in 1983 with USAID seed money, IDLO
has grown into a intergovernmental body with 22 member states
and an annual budget of over 20 million Euro, all of which is
provided by voluntary contributions. IDLO has permanent
observer status at the United Nations and enjoys a reputation as
the premier organization at the nexus of law and development.
IDLO has a clear strategy focusing on how to improve rule-of-law
in countries in order to achieve development goals. During the
Ambassador's presentation of credentials to IDLO on October 15,
DG William Loris described the positive impact IDLO is making in
promoting rule-of-law, particularly in Afghanistan, Sudan, Kenya
and the Central African Republic. The largest contributors are
the Netherlands, United States and Italy, in that order, with a
U.S. contribution of 300,000 dollars last year.





Six Candidates for DG Position

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3. (SBU) U.S. citizen William Loris, who helped establish the
organization almost thirty years ago, has served his full term
and his successor will be elected at the November 25 meeting of
the General Assembly. Following the established rules of
procedure, a short list of six candidates was selected,
including Tom McInerney-of the United States. On September 17
and 18 interviews were conducted to determine the best qualified
candidate for the position. All member states were invited to
participate in the interviews and most did. The Mission
representative to the interviews found McInerney to be by far
the most qualified candidate given his demonstrated experience
in rule-of-law and development. In particular, McInerney has
served with IDLO for seven years; first as General Counsel and
currently as Director of Research, Policy, and Strategic
Initiatives. McInerney is the architect of IDLOs Strategic Plan
which was adopted by the member states in November 2008.




4. (SBU) Mission believes the only completely unacceptable
candidate on the short list is the well-connected Italian
nominee, former Ambassador Antonio Badini. Badini is retired
from the Italian diplomatic service where he held the rank of
Ambassador most recently from 2003-2007 in Egypt. He also
served as Ambassador to Norway and, at one point in his career,
was a Foreign Policy Advisor to former Prime Minister Bettino
Craxi. Badini rambled throughout the interview session, failed
to respond to specific questions, was visibly aggressive towards
current IDLO management and has no legal background whatsoever.
The other four candidates have relatively little job-related
experience and none are being actively supported by member
countries.



UN ROME 00000063 002 OF 003





Italy Seeks to Capture IDLO DG

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5. (SBU) Despite the glaring shortcomings of its candidate, the
Government of Italy has already begun an aggressive lobbying
campaign to promote Badini through advocacy to member state
Ambassadors in Rome, demarches to capitals and interventions by
Italian Undersecretary of State Stefania Craxi. The Italian
effort has already led to solid support from Paraguay. Mission
has heard from another member state that the GOI is promising to
increase its voluntary contributions to IDLO if the Italian
candidate is selected. The implication, of course, is that
funding would be decreased if their candidate is not selected.






Action Request

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6. (SBU) Mission recommends that the Department designate
McInerney as the official U.S. candidate and that both the
Mission and Washington promote his candidacy with strong USG
advocacy, especially since his election would help consolidate
the recent governance and internal reorganizations that have set
IDLO on a course for results-based management, transparency and
accountability. Ambassador Cousin would advocate on McInerney's
behalf with the Rome-based ambassadors from other members states
and also host a reception in his honor to further promote his
candidacy. In addition, we suggest that Washington send a
demarche to the IDLO member states listed in paragraph 7 drawing
on the following points:



- The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) has
contributed toward development and improved rule-of-law
throughout the world since 1983.



- The United States strongly supports IDLO as it consolidates
its recent reorganization toward results-based management in
order to best achieve its strategic goals.



- Toward this end, the U.S. would like to see the most
qualified candidate for the position of Director General
selected at the November 25 IDLO Assembly of Parties. The
United States supports Thomas McInerney and believes his
experience over the past seven years at IDLO makes him uniquely
qualified to serve as Director General.



- Mr. McInerney is the only candidate with the broad
background in rule-of-law and development that is critical to
the position. In addition, Mr. McInerney was principally
responsible for IDLO's Strategic Plan as adopted by the Assembly
of Parties in November 2008.



- We encourage your government to support Mr. McInerney in the
upcoming elections on November 25 in Rome so that IDLO can
continue to contribute positively to development and the
rule-of-law.



- We would appreciate knowing how your government intends to
vote in the upcoming election and would be pleased to provide
any additional information needed on Mr. McInerney.

UN ROME 00000063 003 OF 003






7. (U) Suggested recipient countries for the demarche are:
Australia, Jordan, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Bulgaria,
China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Kenya, Paraguay, Philippines,
Romania, Tunisia, Sudan, Italy, France, Burkina Faso, and
Senegal. A similar demarche could also be delivered to the OPEC
Fund for International Development in Vienna as it will have a
vote as a new member at the November 25 meeting.




8. (SBU) The point of contact at USUN Rome for IDLO is Keith
Heffern, telephone: 39-06-4674-3528, e-mail: HeffernKL@state.gov.
COUSIN