Nepal, Qatar still in UNGA presidency race

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Nepal and Qatar’s efforts to persuade each other to drop candidacy for the UN General Assembly presidency have reached nowhere and as of now both the countries’ candidacy remains intact.

Nepal and Qatar are vying for the top UN post from the Asia region. Nepal and Qatar have filed their candidature for the 66th UNGA presidency, a prestigious post in UN system and international diplomacy, which starts from mid-September for one-year term.

Nepal has already named Kul Chandra Gautam, a former assistant secretary-general of UN, for the job, by appointing him Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Nepal on International Affairs and Peace Process, while Qatar picked Nassir Abdul Aziz al-Nasser, a three-term ambassador to UN, as its candidate.

Neither Nepal nor Qatar was able to convince each other for a consensus candidate for the post during their one-on-one discussions today, said a highly placed source. Visiting Qatari State Minister for International Cooperation Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah urged Nepal to give up its claim in favour

of Qatar for the UN job during his separate meetings with Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bharat Mohan Adhikary.

Both PM Khanal and DPM Adhikary, however, urged Qatar to withdraw its candidacy.

Khalid arrived in Kathmandu as a special emissary of Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bins Jaber Al-Thani to persuade Nepal to drop the candidacy in favour of his country.

According to PM’s foreign affairs adviser Milan Tuladhar, the PM told the Qatari envoy that Nepal wanted the UN job, citing Nepal’s longer association with UN, its role for global peace as a major troop-contributing nation in UN peacekeeping operations, and its earlier nomination for the post. Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai termed the meetings ‘very friendly’. “We will be in close consultation on the matter,” he told THT.

If Nepal and Qatar fail to arrive at a consensus on the candidate, there will be voting — slated for February 25 — to choose one for the top post from the Asia region. “We have agreed on fair play, should we face a voting phase,” said Tuladhar.