At UN, Power of Secret Ballot Shown in Low Saudi Vote, US Said to Face
.... It was said that even Eritrea's neighbors Ethiopia and Djibouti voted
for the Eritrean candidate, Tesfa Alem Seyoum.....
By Matthew Russell Lee
13.11.2012
UNITED NATIONS, November 11, 2012 -- The only contested race for the UN
Human Rights Council on November 12 is in the Western European and Other
Group, among the US, Sweden, Germany, Greece and Ireland. Significantly, it
will be a secret ballot.
Friday night between the UN and the East River, in its Ambassadors River
View tent, several African Permanent Representatives told Inner City Press
that the secret ballot makes all the difference.
As one example, they said Saudi Arabia always gets less support when it's
a secret ballot than when, for example on Syria, it is public.
When it's second, one said, you find out what people think. This Permanent
Representative predicted a surprisingly low level of support for the United
States, "even after Obama's re-election."
Click here <
http://www.innercitypress.com/drones1hrckoh101912.html> for
when Inner City Press asked US' Harold Koh about drone use.
<
http://www.innercitypress.com/drones1hrckoh101912.html>
There was also much discussion, on Friday evening, of Eritrea's win for
the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions earlier in
the day. To some, it showed the remaining power of an African Union
endorsement (even though also AU endorsed Benin dropped out after the first
of two rounds.) It was said that even Eritrea's neighbors Ethiopia and
Djibouti voted for the Eritrean candidate, Tesfa Alem Seyoum.
Others said that the result left Africa without seniority and experience on
ACABQ. This was expressed, not only but primarily, but SADC and West African
/ Francophone Ambassadors.
When Benin dropped out, the Francophone vote shifted to Senegal, whose
candidate Babou Sene beat out the incumbent chairman from Botswana, Collen
Kelapile, and the "carpet-bagging" candidate from Kenya. And so it goes at
the UN.
Received on Tue Nov 13 2012 - 13:40:15 EST
