Three rounds of voting today failed to produce a winner in the two-man race to lead the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 25).
(Mar. 26) -
Algerian Ambassador Taous Feroukhi, chairwoman of the IAEA Board of Governors, told reporters today that candidates for the agency's top job had so far failed to gain the needed majority of board votes (Dieter Nagl/Getty Images).
Yukiya Amano of Japan or Abdul Minty of South Africa would need support from two-thirds of the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors to take the position. Amano was ahead in all three votes today -- going 21-14, 20-15 and 20-15 over Minty -- but never reached the 24-vote threshold.
The board is expected tomorrow to take an up or down vote on Amano. If he fails to obtain the needed majority, delegates would do the same for Minty. If that fails, further voting would be postponed for consideration of new candidates ahead of a decision expected no later than June.
"I reckon the chances of deadlock tomorrow are 90 percent," said one European diplomat in Vienna. Another added: "A stalemate is more likely than not."
Amano and Minty are competing to replace Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian diplomat who has led the U.N. nuclear watchdog for nearly 12 years. ElBaradei steps down in November.
Both candidates have strong nonproliferation backgrounds and serve as their nations' envoys to the agency. Their campaign comes amid continuing concerns about the nuclear programs of Iran (see GSN, March 25) and Syria (see GSN, March 20) and worries that terrorists might obtain the bomb (see GSN, Jan. 13).
"It was a stronger than expected performance by Minty but the voting made clear how the governors have become increasingly polarized on the major issues," the second diplomat said.
Western nations are believed to have backed Amano in hopes that he would "depoliticize" the agency, focusing it on its technical duties of preventing nuclear proliferation and promoting the peaceful uses of the atom. Minty's core support is seen from developing nations on the board (Heinrich/Westall, Reuters, March 26).