Pressure Mounts on France in Selection of New U.N. Leader

The complex process of picking the next leader of the United Nations reached a critical juncture Thursday when France emerged as the lone holdout blocking the selection of Ghana’s Kofi Annan, a longtime U.N. official, as secretary-general.

After almost a week of political maneuvering behind closed doors here and in capitals of Africa and Europe, Annan won the backing of 14 of the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council. But because the opposition is from France, one of five permanent members of the council with veto power, the lopsided margin is not enough for Annan’s appointment.

Pressure immediately mounted on France to change its vote when balloting resumes today, in part because the three African members of the council all moved into Annan’s column on Thursday. The French have cast themselves as a defender of African interests in the selection process.

“The bottom line is the French are facing the choice of whether to block or spoil the [election of the] first-ever black African secretary-general in the history of the United Nations, and they have no good reason,” said a Western diplomat supportive of Annan’s candidacy.

Annan is widely seen here as the favorite of the United States, although the American delegation has refrained from public comment on any candidates.

Last month, the U.S. vetoed the reelection of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a favorite of the French, saying he has not been supportive enough of U.N. reform.

Boutros-Ghali, 74, later “suspended” his candidacy to let the council consider others.

France has backed Amara Essy, foreign minister of Ivory Coast, a former French colony. But Essy was unable to win more than seven votes in the informal council balloting, in which members are permitted to vote for more than one candidate.

French officials here and in Paris on Thursday discounted reports that their opposition to Annan stems from linguistic concerns.

English is the official language of Ghana. Annan speaks English and French, but Paris is said to oppose him in part because French is not his first language.

The French also deny that they are seeking assurances that Annan would appoint a French diplomat to one of the top two U.N. undersecretary jobs.

Rather, the reservation about Annan, as a source close to the French mission here put it, is that he is a U.N. insider and not the reformer the U.S. supposedly seeks.

Annan’s defenders said he has compiled an impressive record as administrator of the U.N. peacekeeping department. They note that Annan, 58--an economics graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., who also holds a master’s degree in management from MIT--held top posts in budget management at the U.N.