Election of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) secretary general |15 May 2017

Georgian Pololikashvili gets the nod

● Alain St Ange was expected back yesterday

Georgian diplomat Zurab Pololikashvili is the new United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) secretary general after picking up 18 votes in the second round in the Madrid election last Friday as Seychellois Alain St Ange watched on the sidelines after being forced to withdraw his candidacy.

Mr St Ange was expected back in Seychelles yesterday afternoon and it is not clear what the future holds for him as he resigned as Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Minister to run for the post of UNWTO secretary general.

In the second round of last Friday’s elections Mr Pololikashvili beat his closest contender Dr Mzembi from Zimbabwe 18-15 after they had both emerged as the two leading candidates with 8 and 11 votes respectively in the first round at the 105th UNWTO executive Council held in Madrid, Spain.

He will take over from the highly respected and revered Dr Taleb Rifai whose tenure at the world tourism body comes to an end later this year after an eight-year spell as its secretary general.

Thirty three executive council members with voting rights went to the polls.

Other than Georgian Pololikashvili and Zimbabwean Mzembi, Márcio Favilla (Brazil), Jaime Alberto Cabal Sanclemente (Colombia) and Young-shim Dho (South Korea) also took part in the race for the right to lead the UN tourism agency from 2018 to 2021.

In the first round, Zimbabwe’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Walter Mzembi came first with 11 votes followed by the Georgian with 8 votes, Dho 7 votes, Favilla 4 votes and Sanclemente with 3 votes.

Mzembi had the backing of the African Union, one of the largest blocs with 10 of the 33 members of the UNWTO executive council.

It is in fact the same African Union which pressured the Seychelles government to withdraw its candidate Mr St Ange from the race. It did so through a note verbale sent to the Seychelles government saying it is backing Zimbabwean candidate, Dr Mzembi.

According to newspaper reports, Seychelles had been running a parallel campaign for its candidate in contravention of African Union statutes on international postings, earning itself the tag of a spoiler whose attitude was to split the African vote.

The AU also noted that there are sanctions that can be applied to countries who fail to follow procedures in such circumstances. The sanctions are economic, political, communication and transport links and others.

In relation to political sanctions, Seychelles would not have been able to submit any candidate for any position on any international body or support /second any Seychellois in any such position for a five-year period. In terms of economic sanctions, those would have affected our trade and commercial agreements as well as air links with different countries and not to forget other sanctions in areas possible under the AU constitution.

Mr St Ange stepped down as Tourism, Civil Aviation, Port and Marine Minister in December last year to run for the post of UNWTO secretary general.

In an emotional speech in front of the executive committee in Madrid to explain his side of the story on him withdrawing from the race to become the next secretary-general of the UNWTO, Mr St Ange said: “I hope that the people of Seychelles will be able to forgive me for not being able to now see this through.”

Mr St Ange, who was expected back in Seychelles yesterday afternoon, added: “I am filled with pride first and foremost at how far our small island nation, the Seychelles, has come in the race for the prestigious role of secretary general of the UNWTO, the highest office of tourism in the world. However, I am also filled with disappointment and regret that I cannot see this race to completion and cross that finishing line with my fellow candidates and esteemed colleagues.
He noted that he has dedicated his career to the field of tourism and served proudly in his country as chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, following which he was appointed Minister for Tourism and Culture.

“Later I was entrusted with more responsibility; my portfolio was expanded to Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports, and Marine. In addition to this, I was a founding member of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Organisation and elected as the first president thereof. I worked diligently and tirelessly for my country throughout this period. I have served as an executive committee member for the UNWTO for the past two years, working hard alongside most of you for the betterment of world tourism, a privilege which I alone enjoyed amongst my fellow candidates. I have always been passionate about the field and I remain excited to work with all of you in the future in some shape or form to further our ideals,” he said.

The former minister continued saying: “I resigned from my ministerial role when I was inundated with support from various countries to pursue the role for SG following Taleb Rifai announcing that the end of term was coming. I entered the race for the post with the firm, heartfelt belief that Seychelles, as a small island state within Africa, has a voice, that we matter, and that we have the capacity to be a leader in tourism in the global arena. In addition, I had, and still have, the conviction that we would have brought something entirely different to the table, an element of diversity, which only a small country with a melting pot of cultures like ours could. I put my heart and soul into my campaign over the past five months, incurring great costs at my own expense, and meeting great people along the way.”

He said he arrived in Madrid a few days before the election with his ever supportive family and friends, only to learn soon after landing that his tireless campaign had been turned abruptly on its head.

“I was informed informally via telephone by the Vice-President of Seychelles (Vincent Meriton) that my island nation had revoked my candidature. A few moments later the news spread like wildfire on social media,” said Mr St Ange who added that following the threat of sanction communicated by the African Union to Seychelles, the Seychelles had little choice but to bow to the demand and hastily revoke its candidature.

He added that it could be perceived as a display of bad faith by Seychelles to revoke his candidacy a mere two days before the UNWTO elections, after months of campaigning, but noted that Seychelles is a small island nation which is highly dependent on support from its neighbouring countries.

“Together we triumph, alone we fall,” he said.

Mr St Ange also said he was saddened that he would not have the opportunity to see the promise that he made to many people to fulfillment.

“I will forever be grateful to those of you who pledged support for me in the elections, and to those of you who will continue to work with me for the benefit of global tourism. My interests have always been and will continue to be for the furtherance of Seychelles and to forge important ties between the world tourism communities. I regret that I will not be able to honour my promise to the Seychellois people to take our nation further than it has ever been before. I hope that the Seychelles people will be able to forgive me for not being able to now see this through,” he continued.

Confident of being elected the new UNWTO secretary general before leaving Seychelles for Madrid, Mr St Ange explained that despite President Danny Faure withdrawing his candidacy by way of a letter three days earlier, there are procedural irregularities in his withdrawal letter which cannot be overlooked.

“The power to withdraw my candidacy rests with me alone. He can, however, withdraw the letter of endorsement that he wrote which accompanied my candidacy. Had he withdrawn the endorsement he graciously gave me, it would cause my candidature to fall. A win for me would have been a win for Seychelles, and a win for Africa. However, to contest his letter is to leave my country vulnerable to the threat of sanction,” stressed Mr St Ange.

Mr St Ange who has pledged his support to the new secretary general, said though he would have served the UNWTO well and to the best of his abilities, making Seychelles and Africa proud, he will continue to dedicate his life to world tourism.