THE United Nations confronts a number of challenges, including the Syrian civil war, an outflow of refugees, the spread of terrorism and poverty. Anyone at the helm of the world body must possess greater leadership ability than ever before.

The UN Security Council has selected former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres to be the next UN secretary general. Upon approval by the UN General Assembly, he will take office on Jan 1 next year.

Guterres has served as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for 10 years. He has improved the international body’s capability to flexibly deal with a sharp increase in the number of refugees and other emergencies while also achieving results in rectifying the world body’s culture of red tape and curtailing its expenses. Guterres is the first person to be chosen for the top UN position after having once served as prime minister.

Guterres’ appointment as secretary general-elect seems to show that most UNSC member nations have highly valued his ability to act through a field-oriented approach. Despite its deepening antagonism toward the United States, Russia did not object to his appointment. We hope Guterres will serve as an intermediary between the United States and Russia in addressing the Syrian problem and other matters.

With a change of UN chiefs, Japan — a nation aiming to gain a permanent seat on the Security Council — must seek action from the United Nations in realising reform of the world body at an early date. It is also indispensable for our nation to secure key positions under a new UN setup and work to increase the number of Japanese personnel in the international organisation.

Regain neutrality, fairness

Thirteen persons ran for the position of new secretary general. In response to the accusation that the Security Council was selecting a secretary general behind closed doors, public hearings were held for the first time to question each candidate regarding his or her opinions. The action was reasonable because it increased the transparency of the selection process.

Guterres emphasised his determination to seek solutions to humanitarian crises. It is no easy task to rectify the United Nations’ inefficiency and strengthen its functions. The broad support gathered by Guterres, whether from large or small countries, seems to have resulted from disappointment felt by UN members about the incumbent, Ban Ki Moon.

Ban is said to be sensitive only to the feelings of permanent UNSC members and unable to make his presence felt. It is also said that he assigns South Koreans to important positions and gives his own country special treatment. He has been unable to lay such unfavourable criticism to rest during his 10-year tenure. Ban has also been less than eager to reform the Security Council.

The greatest problem regarding Ban was his attendance at a 70th anniversary event marking China’s “victory” in “the War of Resistance against Japan” in Beijing in September last year. He also observed a military parade along with Chinese, Russian and South Korean leaders.

Ban’s conduct was tantamount to disregarding the decision of the Japanese, US and major European leaders not to attend the event, which they viewed as anti-Japan propaganda. He has also only urged Japanese leaders to undertake “deep introspection” regarding the conflict of opinions among Japan, China and South Korea over the perception of history.

It did not seem that Ban kept in mind his duty of mediating in disputes from the standpoint of neutrality and fairness. He has an extremely heavy responsibility to assume for causing the United Nations to suffer a loss of trust.

Rumour has it that Ban may run in South Korea’s presidential election next year. It is suspected that the main factor behind his biased speech and behaviour was an ulterior motive tied to his own future. This suspicion may be contrary to Ban’s true feelings.

Yomiuri Shimbun / Japan

Published in Dawn October 19th, 2016