Seven candidates are currently vying to head the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the midst of the global economic crisis. The nomination procedure, the deadline for registration for which ends on Wednesday (08.07.2020), is not an election but a consensus mechanism that works by elimination. Although it is possible to submit the election to a vote as a last resort, it has never been used. In the absence of an agreement, a Solomonic solution was chosen in 1999: two directors were elected, each serving half of the six-year term. Without consensus, one of the WTO's deputy directors will temporarily take over.
At 73 years old, he Mexican Jesus Seade Kuri, who also has Lebanese nationality, is the oldest candidate. A former deputy director of the WTO, he has held senior positions at the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He is currently the Undersecretary for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.
In addition to Seade, an Egyptian, a Nigerian, a Moldovan, a Kenyan, a South Korean and a Briton They hope to succeed Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who resigned on May 14, before the end of his term, citing "family" reasons, forcing the 164 members to find a successor in three months instead of nine. The new director will face the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also those of preparing the 2021 ministerial conference, getting the organization out of its stagnation and trying to boost dialogue with the United States.
Washington has threatened to leave the WTO, which it calls a "waste" organisation and which has paralysed the appeals court of the WTO's dispute settlement body, which is responsible for international trade disputes, since December. The United States, which believes it is receiving "unequal" treatment from the world trade policeman, is calling for its re-establishment and for China to be removed from the list of developing countries.
Candidates from four continents
The African continent, which has never had a WTO director, is now hoping for its turn, although there is no rule in this regard. But the Africans have not been able to propose a single candidate. The African Union, surprised by the abrupt departure of Roberto Azevedo, had retained three names, but only the Egyptian Hamid Mamdouh, 67, a former WTO official who also has Swiss nationality, has put forward his candidacy.
Nigeria has nominated Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (66 years old), a decision that is the subject of a legal dispute with the African Union. Despite this discrepancy, "the Nigerian candidate is gaining ground in Africa," says a diplomatic source. Okonjo Iweala, former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs and president of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Vaccination (Gavi), assures that she has "enormous support".
Alongside Okonjo-Iweala are two other women: South Korea's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, 53, and Kenya's Sports Minister Amina Mohamed, 58, who was Azevedo's running mate in 2013. At the last minute, the Spectator's political editor announced on Twitter that former British Trade Minister Liam Fox had also been put forward as a candidate to lead the WTO.
Moldova has put forward the candidacy of its former foreign minister, Tudor Ulianovschi, who at 37 is the youngest candidate. Spanish foreign minister Arancha González Laya, who had been considered as a possible candidate, denied in an interview with a Spanish agency that she has put herself forward to lead the international organisation.
Source: DW
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