Claims of inducements in regional voting for WHO chief

Updated October 13, 2008 11:39:27

Tonga claims several Pacific nations were offered inducements by South Korea to change their votes at a regional meeting of a United Nations body. Tonga's candidate to be regional head of the World Health Organisation, Dr Villiame Tangi, who is also the country's deputy prime minister and health minister, lost to a South Korean candidate at a meeting in Manila. Pacific nations had all agreed at the recent Forum summit on Niue to vote for Dr Tangi, who was also supported by Australia, New Zealand, Japan and China. Samoa's acting prime minister, Misa Telefoni Retzlaff says it's obvious that Dr Tangi lost because at least six Pacific Island countries voted against him, and asks "What does that tell the world about the myth of Pacific Islands' solidarity"?
Tonga's cabinet secretary, Eseta Fusitua, says the Samoan acting prime minister is quite right to raise the issue publicly.

Bruce Hill
Speaker:Tonga's cabinet secretary, Eseta Fusitua.

FUSITUA: Well first of all I want to convey to him Tonga's gratitude to the honourable Mr Telefoni for having brought this Pacific tragedy out into the open and getting everyone, giving us, including Tonga the opportunity to address this tragedy in a transparent manner. At the same time I want to convey Tonga's thanks also and deep gratitude to our fellow Pacific Forum members, Australia and New Zealand, for their dedicated efforts, not just to get Tonga into the election, but to give the Pacific its first chance to lead the regional office of WHO. We were given a chance, and to Tonga's way of thinking we gave it away, we did not accept the chance the WHO gave the Pacific to rise to what would have been the highest position in the United Nations world to be occupied by a Pacific Islander. What happened in Manila we had the numbers to do it, we decided at Niue to do it, and when we got to Manila some of our brothers gave that away.

HILL: In what way, were there any inducements offered to countries to vote for a certain candidate?

FUSITUA: Yes quite clearly about at least ten or more of the hotel reservations in Manila were done by one of the candidates for the those many Pacific Islands. It's disheartening for a place like a Pacific Island for a qualified person like Dr Tangi to go up the system and go so far and so high and to have been promised the support of your neighbours, and then to reach there and he was just left to fall, because your neighbours or some of them decided to accept the gifts they were given. The acting Prime Minister of Samoa has kindly brought the issue out for us to address because this is not going to be the last election that we participate in.

HILL: Do you know if there were any other inducements offered other than free hotel rooms to the delegates?

FUSITUA: I believe yes that there were other gifts given and accepted.

HILL: What issues does this raise as regards Pacific cooperation? There is a great story out there that Pacific countries support each other internationally. Clearly you're saying that at some of these international gatherings they don't?

FUSITUA: Well we go back to the Niue Forum in August of this year, this is where all the Pacific leadership meets and all of the Pacific Island peoples listened to see what their decisions are. At this forum led by the Premier of Niue they all promised that they would vote for their candidate. I suppose it's everyone's freedom to then renege on that commitment, but reneging by … public officials it raises the issues of good governance and accountability, etc., etc. Tonga wants at this stage to bring these matters to the fore.

HILL: Well are you going to be able to actually do anything about it though? Countries can vote whichever way they want to, they can give all the commitments they like at a forum meeting, it doesn't mean they have to follow through. What really can Tonga do about it?

FUSITUA: Nothing, I think the problem was not whether you have the right to make a commitment, because you do, or whether you have the right to break a commitment, because you do. The issue is one of integrity and one of what we call in Tonga ??? , I respect you and you respect me. The issue is that if really if you knew you didn't want to support your friend it'd be much kinder not to have made the commitment, and then Tonga could go to Manila with that reality and not lose face immensely, because it's one thing for other people to let you down, it's totally different when your neighbourhood does it to you.