Mbeki defends his biting critique of the UN
September 23 2004 at 03:11PM
By Angela Quintal
President Thabo Mbeki blasted the United Nations for
becoming an instrument of the rich and powerful and
said its development agenda was very much on the
backburner.
Asked on Wednesday about his biting critique of the
world body, he said: "I think the truth needs to be
told. That's the reality."
Mbeki was speaking ahead of his departure from New
York, where he addressed the UN General Assembly
earlier on Wednesday, and held several bilateral
meetings with world leaders.
'I think the truth needs to be told'
Mbeki said the UN was unrepresentative and questioned
why the concerns of powerful and developed states,
such as terrorism, were taking precedence over
humanity's more serious challenges, those of poverty
and under-development.
In an interview, Mbeki said that the UN was an
instrument to address the concerns of the rich and
powerful, while the development agenda - which
preoccupied those who were poor - "was very much on
the backburner".
"So I think that matter must be confronted. Let's have
an honest discussion about it and if it is decided
that the UN is really only a peace and security
institution, then so be it.
"Then let's not pretend that we have development
programmes, that it's about a better life, and so on,"
Mbeki said.
Mbeki said that the UN was failing in achieving the
goals it set, including those in the Millennium
Declaration.
'I think that matter must be confronted'
"Perhaps the mistake we made was to assume that the
contemporary distribution of power in human society
would make it possible for the concerns of the poor to
take precedence on the global agenda and global
programme of action."
He said world leaders had comforted, or perhaps
deluded, themselves into thinking that the UN was "the
most universal and most representative organisation in
the world".
Implying that the UN General Assembly was tantamount
to an annual talkshop, he said every year many leaders
made an annual pilgrimage "to this great and vibrant
city to plead the cause of the poor of the world,
hopeful that this time our voices will be heard".
"Every year, after a few days we pick up our bags to
return to the reality of our societies, whose squalor
stands out in sharp contrast to the splendour of New
York and the majestic precinct that constitutes the
headquarters of the United Nations organisation."
Mbeki was particularly critical of UN Security Council
resolutions obliging states to act to thwart the
deadly plans of murderous terrorist gangs, as opposed
to resolutions that merely appealed to the "mighty and
lowly alike to respond voluntarily to the cries of the
wretched of the earth".
The president mooted whether it was not perhaps time
that "we the poor and powerless abandon our
wheelchairs and begin to walk unaided". Perhaps this
will help build the social order "in which right would
make might and not might, right", he said.
On Zimbabwe he said that South Africa is willing to
step up contact with President Robert Mugabe and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, even daily
if necessary. Mbeki confirmed that the MDC had asked
him at the weekend to appoint an envoy to help spur
dialogue between the two sides.
The MDC also briefed Mbeki on its decision to boycott
next year's parliamentary election until the ruling
Zanu-PF abided by a regional election protocol. Mbeki
on Monday met Mugabe on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly in New York, two days after his
meeting with the MDC.
On whether he would appoint a special envoy, Mbeki
said the MDC had raised the matter that South Africa
should act as a facilitator a long time ago.
"Our own view was that it was not really necessary."
This was because South Africa was in regular contact
with both sides.
On whether Mugabe had agreed, Mbeki said: "He has no
problem. There has never been any problem."
Earlier in the day, Mugabe was applauded in the
General Assembly, when he again attacked the United
States and Britain and said they had no moral
authority to lecture anyone, let alone be the
torch-bearers of human rights.
He charged that the world was being coerced to accept
and believe a new political-cum-religious doctrine,
namely: "That there is but one political god, namely
George W Bush, and Tony Blair is his prophet."
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