It is now certain that the elections for the post of UNESCO director-general, for which there is an Egyptian nominee, will only take place in autumn next year. This week, UN Security Council members formally selected António Guterres, who served as UN high commissioner for refugees for a decade, as the successor to the current UN secretary-general, the South Korean Ban Ki-moon. This eliminates the current UNESCO chief Irina Bokova who had also fielded herself as a successor to Mr Ban. Until this week, it was not certain whether or not elections for the next UNESCO chief would be held during a meeting of that UN body's executive board this November, which might have been the case had Bokova succeeded in her bid for the post of UN secretary-general and thus been unable to complete the remainder of her term as UNESCO director-general which lasts until the end of next year. But now we know that the elections for her successor will take place, as scheduled, in November 2017. The choice of the Portuguese candidate, António Guterres, who will soon occupy the office of the secretary-general on the 38th floor of the UN building in New York, came as a surprise to many. Until last month, most official statements on the subject suggested that the general thinking was that the time has come to elect the first woman to head the international organisation established 71 years ago. Ban Ki-moon, himself, stated that his successor should be a woman. The declared Russian position was that, this time, the post should be filled by a representative of one of the East European countries and China indicated that it was opposed to another UN chief from Western Europe. As we know, Russia and China both have the right to veto Security Council decisions, which means that they could override a vote in favour of any candidate they did not like, regardless of whatever majority he/she obtained. But a lot of talks and negotiations took place behind closed doors during the past few weeks, ultimately putting paid to the prospects of the Bulgarian UNESCO chief who came out fifth in the straw poll held lastweek among ambassadors to the Security Council. In that poll, 15 ambassadors voted for Guterres while two abstained and no one voiced opposition. After his selection in the Security Council this week, Guterres's nomination will be brought to the 193 members of the General Assembly for ratification before the end of the current session at the beginning of December. This is the first time that the General Assembly took part in the screening of nominees for the post of UN secretary-general. The candidates were required to introduce themselves before the General Assembly, present what they believed most qualified them for the post and outline their vision and programme for the future of the UN. The responses to António Guterres's presentation were highly positive. Numerous General Assembly delegates issued statements to the effect that he was the right person to lead the international organisation at this time when the world is contending with a worsening refugee crisis due to the political conflicts that have multiplied and intensified since the beginning of this century. Guterres's record as high commissioner for refugees during the past 10 years demonstrates that he is capable of handling this issue. Egypt, which is a member of the current UN Security Council, lauded the new precedent that was set this year and the Egyptian permanent delegate to the UN took the opportunity to call for a greater role for General Assembly members in the election of the secretary-general beyond ratifying the Security Council's choice. Still, in spite of the sudden democratic inroads in this process, what swung the decision in favour of the Portuguese candidate were behind the scenes deals struck with Moscow and Beijing that ultimately backed down from their declared positions. Undoubtedly, among these two countries' conditions was that the candidate had to reserve for them certain key posts in the UN in exchange for their not exercising their right to veto. From Cairo's perspective, the choice of anyone but the current UNESCO director-general as the new UN chief works in Egypt's favour. If Irina Bokova had been elected this would have given rise to complications for everyone. Bokova's candidacy for the top UN post triggered considerable debate in UNESCO circles. Some held that Bokova should serve out the last year of her term at UNESCO, but this would have violated the UNESCO charter that stipulates that the director-general should be elected by that organisation's executive board, whereas Bokova's replacement would have been appointed by her, not elected. Others suggested that UNESCO elections would have to be brought forward. But this would have caused pandemonium within this UN body and among its members due to the lack of sufficient time to elect her replacement. There would only have been a few weeks whereas holding the elections at their scheduled time — at the end of Bokova's term next year — affords Egypt a full year to prepare. If used wisely, this is sufficient time to overcome any potential obstacles that might stand in the way of an Egyptian nominee and to secure the largest possible support among the 57 members of the UNESCO executive board. The first item that Egypt will need to address in this regard is the problem of inter-Arab divisions that has given rise to three rival Arab candidates. The second item is the need to formulate a new and innovative programme for the advancement of UNESCO. A clear and thoroughly thought-out future vision will benefit the Egyptian nominee greatly during his/her campaign for the top UNESCO post. Moreover, in next year's executive board meeting, each nominee will be required to deliver a 20-minute presentation outlining their platform after which she/he will be required to field questions from board members with no more than five minutes to respond to each question. Egypt's third task in this regard will be to work out agreements with the most influential countries in UNESCO, most notably France, the seat of UNESCO headquarters, in the corridors of which rumours are circulating to the effect that Paris might support any Arab nominee but the Egyptian one. Therefore, it will be crucial to focus on France which has nominated a former minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, for the top post of another UN agency: The World Health Organisation. This could open possibilities for an understanding between Cairo and Paris.
