Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has some high-powered backing to become the next UN Secretary-General
Jose Ramos Horta – Nobel prize winner and global face of East Timor's long struggle for independence – is backing Australia's former prime minister Kevin Rudd to become the next chief of the United Nations.
"Kevin Rudd, in my view, will be the very best," Dr Ramos Horta told Fairfax Media from Dili.
Mr Rudd is widely thought to be have spent the past year garnering support for a tilt at the job, though he himself remains coy about the prospect. He was in Paris this month for climate change talks, accredited by the UN as head of the Asia Society Policy Institute, and he also recently took over as chairman of the UN-linked "Sanitation and Water for All" partnership.
Dr Ramos Horta is the most senior figure to so far support Mr Rudd for the position of UN Secretary-General, which must be decided next year. He said he would "definitely" be in New York to lobby on Mr Rudd's behalf.
"I would urge Kevin Rudd to run. He has not done so yet, I hope he does. He would be the best Secretary-General the world would have over the next five to 10 years."
Dr Ramos Horta's support could carry extraordinary weight, after he became intimately familiar with the UN system over more than two decades fighting to put diplomatic pressure on Indonesia after its brutal takeover of East Timor. He went on to become East Timor's president.
His support comes as the Security Council on Wednesday signed off on a letter to be sent to all 193 member countries, which outlines the process to appoint a replacement for the present UN chief Ban Ki-moon, whose term finishes at the end of next year.
The letter calls for the next Secretary-General to have "the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity ... with proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations, and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills."
But a spokeswoman for Mr Rudd maintained that, "Mr Rudd is not a candidate".
"Whether people in the international community have a view on Mr Rudd's contribution to international relations, and whether they state these views publicly or privately, it is a matter for them," a spokeswoman for Mr Rudd told Fairfax Media.
Danish diplomat and President of the UN General Assembly Morgens Lykketoft confirmed on Wednesday that only two candidates have so far formally declared for the position, with the letter to members calling for countries to nominate others.
New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark is also reported to be campaigning for the job, with the only formal nominations from Croatia and the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia.
The letter is part of a new drive for transparency in the process of appointing the Secretary-General, which has historically been dominated by the great powers – the US, Russia, Britain, France and China, who each wield a veto in the Security Council.
Mr Lykketoft also said "it was not stated in any specific agreement" that the next Secretary-General should come from a particular part of the world – although he acknowledged eastern European nations are pushing for turn, having not previously had a representative.
There is also a growing drive to appoint the first woman as Secretary-General in the 70 year history of the UN.
Dr Ramos Horta dismissed the notion of an eastern European region within the United Nations as being a relic of the Cold War and said most of the countries had since joined either the European Union or NATO.
"It should be disbanded," he said.
Mr Rudd's spokeswoman said: "It is an eastern European rotation. Mr Rudd is not from eastern Europe."
However, with many eastern European countries fearful of a resurgent Russia, finding an acceptable candidate who would avoid the Russian veto might also prove difficult. That would open the field for other contenders.
Dr Ramos Horta, who has himself been touted in the past as a potential UN chief, said the world was facing extremely complex challenges, including extremism in Syria, humanitarian threats in Africa, and growing numbers of refugees.
"The UN needs a Secretary-General who has exceptional mastery of these issues, who is an extremely gifted leader," he said.
He said a former president, prime minister or foreign minister with years of experience was needed rather than a career diplomat or a candidate from within the UN bureaucracy.
"Someone like Kevin Rudd, he is an internationalist. When he was prime minister, Australia shined on climate change. It was forward looking on aid," Dr Ramos Horta said.
Daniel Flitton, senior correspondent - Sydney Morning Herald, December 16, 2015