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UNESCO fails to elect Director General

18 September 2009 10:01 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva â€“ APA. UNESCO Executive Board failed to elect new Director General in the first round of secret voting. According to APA, no one of the candidates could gain 58 votes they needed to be elected. The UNESCO Director General should be elected in the Boardâ€™s 182nd session in Paris. Incumbent Director General Koitiro Matsuura will end his office in November. 2009.

Ina MarÄiulionytÄ— (Lithuania), Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria), Irina Bokova (Bulgaria), Farouk Hosny (Egypt), Sospeter Mwijarubi Muhongo (United Republic of Tanzania), Alexander Yakovenko (Russian Federation), Ivonne Juez de A. Baki (Ecuador), Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Austria), NourÃ©ini Tidjani-Serpos (Benin) were nominated for the post of UNESCO Director General. Nomination of Egyptâ€™s Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny, who was considered as a real candidate, caused scandal during the voting. Some members accused him in anti-Semitism. Farouk Hosny said in his parliament address last year that if he found any Israel-published book in the countryâ€™s libraries he would burn it. He apologized for his words month later, but it damaged his image and caused failure to be elected UNESCO Director General in the first round. The second round will e held on Friday.