Clark’s chances for UN top job

The Herald reports:

New Zealanders might not have found the campaign for a UN Security Council seat especially thrilling, but the possibility of former Prime Minister Helen Clark leading the United Nations is a common subject of speculation.

Could it happen? The answer is yes, but not easily.

Prime Minister John Key has said the country will back Clark if she puts up her hand to become the next UN Secretary General.

There is no question that she wants it, but that does not mean she will go for it.

She would not go for it without New Zealand’s full backing, and New Zealand’s backing of her depends on what Eastern Europe does. It is considered Eastern Europe’s turn to supply the next Secretary General, a view that New Zealand accepts.

Clark’s chances rest on whether Eastern Europe can come up with a consensus candidate, one acceptable to Europe, the US and Russia.

With the current crisis in relations over Ukraine, that is not a simple task.

If it can’t find a consensus candidate, Clark will almost certainly seek the post and would be a front runner.

If there was no suitable Eastern Europe candidate, then Clark would be a strong contender. But she may have annoyed some by starting her unofficial campaign too early. The Guardian notes:

The field of those seeking to be the next secretary general is widely felt to be underwhelming. Helen Clark, the head of the UN Development Programme, gave an example of how a UN official should not behave when, before the current secretary general was even halfway through his term, she began to discuss, in these pages, her interest in succeeding him. It is time for something more serious.

The lead candidate at this stage appears to be Irina Bokova, the Bulgarian Director-General of UNESCO.