President Irfaan Ali has rejected local media reports suggesting the United States would veto Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett’s bid to become the next United Nations Secretary-General, saying Washington has communicated no such position to Guyana.
Responding to a question from News Room on the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly, the President said his engagements in New York had left him confident about the candidacy.
“I’m very pleased to say that during this week at the United Nations, I’ve engaged many stakeholders in relation to the candidacy of Carolyn Rodrigues, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the response has been overwhelming and very positive,” Ali said.
The President took aim at recent headlines in the local press, which he said “do not reflect the position of any country.”
“The assertion that the US will veto Carolyn has no basis,” he said.
Ali cautioned Guyanese to consider the source and motive behind such reports.
“We have to be careful about who is designing these headlines, who is engineering ‘leaks,’ and what is the objective of these leaks,” he said.
He said that in his most recent discussions with American officials, “up to this point, the Americans have not communicated any such information to us,” adding that they had not indicated the position being put forward by those news outlets.
The President said Guyana would continue working with the United States, the other permanent members of the Security Council, the wider Council and the General Assembly to demonstrate Rodrigues-Birkett’s ability, capability and qualities for the post.
“The job of all of Guyana is not to be sucked in by designed leaks, but to work on a common agenda: promoting our candidate,” he said.
Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett currently serves as Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She has a distinguished career of service locally and internationally.
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
