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Surakiart Stays In Race For UN Post

BANGKOK, March 7 (Bernama) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said Asean's endorsement obliged him to continue vying for the United Nations secretary-general's post despite the ongoing political crisis in the country.

Surakiart, 48, said he could not drop out of the race now after being endorsed by the 10-nation Asean a year ago.

"I believe Asean endorsement obliges me to continue. Asean and other international community have thrown their support to me and I won't let them down," he said in an television interview Monday night.

Surakiart's candidacy for the post came under scrutiny following the political crisis faced by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who has called for a snap election on April 2 amid growing demand from certain quarters for the premier to resign.

Three major opposition parties are boycotting the election.

The capital had seen many mass rallies in the past several weeks demanding Thaksin's resignation while some former Thai diplomats had questioned Surakiart's candidacy and his method of running the campaign.

The former finance and foreign minister said his candidacy represented the country and not just Thaksin's administration and added that 128 UN countries out of 191 were supporting him.

He also has a website promoting his campaign -- www.surakiart.com which states that the parliament dissolution does not affect the candidature of Surakiart, who remains Deputy Prime Minister until the new cabinet is formed and sworn in.

Surakiart's bid to replace Kofi Annan who will step down at end of the year, took an unexpected twist end of last year with revelations that the country's embassy in the United States (US) wants him to abandon the bid due to an "unresponsive" US.

According to the then Thai ambassador to Washington, Kasit Piromya, US President George W Bush had implied that Surakiart was not a brand name and was unmarketable in the areas of human rights, democracy and leadership.

His lack of UN experience and Thailand's handling of the unrest in the Muslim-majority southern provinces are also hampering his bid.

As it is widely accepted that it will be Asia's turn to hold the post, several candidates from the region have announced their candidacy besides Surakiart, among them Sri Lankan peace negotiator and former UN official Jayantha Dhanapala and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon.

The last Asian to hold the post of UN secretary-general was Burmese diplomat U Thant who held it from 1961 to 1971.

Others vying for the coveted post are Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga while former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's name had also been mentioned.

Although Surakiart has received backing from the Asean countries, support by Security Council permanent members who have veto rights -- the US, France, Russia, China and Britain -- is important for any candidate.

--BERNAMA