Vesna Pusić Withdraws Candidacy for UN Secretary-General: My Chances of Election Are Not Realistic

Vesna Pusić has withdrawn her candidacy for the position of UN Secretary-General. Pusić explained the reasons for her withdrawal in an open letter, reports Index, as carried by the news agency Patria.

-The Government of the Republic of Croatia, in its 2011-2016 term, nominated me as a candidate for UN Secretary-General. Based on the UN General Assembly Resolution adopted in September 2015, the selection process for the UN Secretary-General was somewhat modified and opened to the public. A novelty introduced in the process was a public presentation of candidates, including questions from representatives of member states, lasting two hours before the UN General Assembly.

Before that presentation, each candidate was required to submit a text on their vision of the UN's future, which was forwarded to all member states. During the process itself, several other innovations were introduced: each candidate had a one-hour opportunity to speak individually with the Security Council; the President of the General Assembly and the media outlet Al Jazeera organized a panel discussion for all candidates before a broad audience of representatives of member states and various interested institutions and civil society organizations; a series of institutes, universities, civil society organizations, media outlets, and international forums organized lectures, panel discussions, talks, and interviews for individual candidates".

As the Croatian candidate, I participated in all those public presentations and activities, as well as in discussions closed to the public – for example, the presentation before the Security Council. All my public appearances and interviews are available on social networks and internet portals. My public appearances at the UN are also available on my website dedicated to the candidacy for UN Secretary-General.

I clearly advocated my vision of the UN, an organization that is regaining importance and potential influence. However, this task ahead can only be fulfilled through a new, creative approach, shedding excessive bureaucratization, a simpler organizational structure, strong connections with member states, regional organizations, but also civil society and scientific institutions, involving all segments of society in conflict prevention and resolution, and more intensive communication with the global public.

The introduction of the world public into the first phase of the UN Secretary-General selection process dramatically contributed to increased interest in the UN. It was a great pleasure and challenge for me to participate in this historic event and to sincerely and argumentatively represent my vision of the UN's future development.

Such a new process attracted a number of quality candidates, ultimately 12 in total. One part of the candidates comes from UN institutions, with long previous experience working within the organization itself. The other half of this group of candidates, including myself, are people with extensive political and international experience, but without prior experience working in the UN. It was clear that, among other things, a decision would be made between these two basic profiles, each with its own advantages and disadvantages".

It is leaning towards someone from within the organization

"After the first round of voting in the UN Security Council, it became clear that the election of the new UN Secretary-General would go in the direction of a candidate from within the organization – a person who works or has worked at the UN. Although several more rounds of voting in the Security Council remain before the final selection of the candidate to be proposed to the UN General Assembly, after the first round of voting I consider that my chances of being elected to this position are not realistic. For this reason, I am withdrawing my candidacy for the position of UN Secretary-General and will not participate in further activities related to this election.

I thank everyone who provided me with help and support in this great and above all interesting project. I especially thank the government of Zoran Milanović, which proposed me, and my colleagues from the Croatian People's Party, who, as always, provided me with smart, constructive, and effective support. I thank Mr. Tihomir Orešković, who, as Prime Minister, was the only one from the then-current state leadership to publicly express support for me. I understood this as his effort to, in an extremely bizarre situation, at least somewhat protect the dignity of Croatia.

Above all, I am glad that Croatia had its candidate in this, for the first time in history, public presentation of candidates for UN Secretary-General. I approached this process prepared, argumentatively, and honorably, and the participation itself was absolutely fascinating for me, concludes Pusić.