Bradley Klapper reports for the AP, that: "Pascal Lamy Wins Race to Lead the WTO" (via Washington Post, May 13).
Pascal Lamy of France has won the race to lead the World Trade Organization and should be appointed later this month, the head of the selection panel said Friday.
Kenyan Ambassador Amina C. Mohamed told delegations at the 148-member WTO that she would recommend the governing General Council appoint Lamy as director-general starting Sept. 1...
"The preferences and the breadth of support provided a very clear picture of the will of the members in this final round of the selection process," Mohamed said, adding that Lamy is the candidate most likely to attract consensus...
Elisabeth Perennou, his assistant at the Our Europe think tank, said Lamy told her Friday that he will only comment after the General Council makes its formal decision May 26.
In an earlier story today, Klapper reported that Carlos Perez del Castillo had withdrawn from the WTO Director-General race, after a briefing (before the news was released to the WTO membership later in the day) on the results of the consultation from the head of the selection committee.
He said he had learned from Guillermo Valles Galmez, the Uruguayan ambassador to the Geneva-based WTO, that Lamy had the strongest support among the 148 members of the body that supervises global trade.
Valles Galmez had just met Kenyan Ambassador Amina C. Mohamed to learn the results of the polling she has been conducting as head of a three-member panel at the center of the selection process.
"Uruguayan Candidate Yields to Lamy on WTO", (via Washington Post, May 13.)
A Klapper story on Saturday quoted former WTO Director-General candidate Jaya Krishna Cuttaree of Mauritius, raising concerns about the lack of information provided during the selection process. Klapper reports that (among other comments) "...Cuttaree criticized the selection process that chose Lamy because the panel keeps its criteria secret." ("Pascal Lamy Wins Race to Lead the WTO" (May 14).
Note that no tabulations of survey information on national preferences is released during the selection process. While the selection committee polled the member nations to learn their preferences, they don't use a known formula for aggregating the information, and they do not release information about the numbers of countries supporting the candidates. The Brazilians raised concerns about this after the first round.
Richard Waddington reports for Reuters: "Lamy set for top WTO job, rival pulls out" (via Washington Post, May 13). Waddington noted that this is, technically, not the end of the selection process:
"The recommendation of the three-person panel, led by Kenya's ambassador Amina Mohamed, will be announced to trade ambassadors at 1500 GMT. But a formal decision on whether to give the job to Lamy will only be taken on May 26...
Although theoretically some states could attempt to block a consensus decision to support Lamy at the council meeting in two weeks' time, diplomats said this was unlikely."
Elizabeth Becker reports for the New York Times: "Europe's Ex-Trade Commissioner Is Picked to Lead W.T.O.".
Alan Beattie and Frances Williams reported in the Financial Times: "Lamy's last rival for WTO post withdraws" (May 13).
Mr Lamy's strongest opponents - Latin American banana-growing countries such as Costa Rica, which suspect he favours their Caribbean competitors - signalled they would drop their objections. Barring a last-minute hitch, Mr Lamy will be confirmed within two weeks and will replace Supachai Panitchpakdi, the incumbent, in September.
Why did India back Lamy? India's Financial Express explains: "Not India’s first choice".
India supported Pascal Lamy in the last round of the race as opposed to Uruguay’s candidate Perez Del Castillo. However, New Delhi would have been much more comfortable with either Jaya Krishna Cuttaree from Mauritius or Luiz Felipe de Seixas Correa from Brazil at the DG’s post. India supported Mauritius in the first round, but shifted support shifted to Brazil in the second round when Mauritius got eliminated.
Government managers here say that the decision to support Lamy was taken because with the exit of Cuttaree and Correa, the fight ceased to be between developed and developing countries. Castillo’s strong right-wing credentials, seen in Cancun ministerial, also weighed on India.
A DG from a developing country that is sensitive to the needs of India would have been particularly helpful especially when members are trying their best to conclude the on-going Doha development round by the end of 2006.
India’s slight discomfort with Lamy as the future WTO DG is due to the fact that India was engaged in a number of bitter trade disputes with EU during Lamy’s tenure as the EU trade commissioner...
Here are some more stories about Lamy: Paul Blustein "Frenchman Set to Assume WTO Leadership " (Washington Post, May 14); Alan Beattie, Raphael Minder, and Frances Williams report for the: "Lamy to head WTO as rival withdraws" ( Financial Times, May 14); Ambrose Evans-Pritchard : "Champion of EU superstate nears finish line for world trade job" (Telegraph, May 14); Evelyn Iritani "European Chosen to Head WTO"
Revised during the course of May 13, 14, 16.