The World Tourism Organization has the most important function in the political global world of travel and tourism and should serve as a model of transparency and fair functioning within the United Nations system. All UN member countries should also be UNWTO members, but this is not the case.
As predicted by eTurboNews in November 2021, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili has been working hard with his legal advisor to change the rules of the World Tourism Organization, allowing him to run for a third term in office.
Today an important step in this process was leaked to eTurboNews showing how the UNWTO Secretary-General who is from Georgia, a former Soviet Republic, is manipulating member countries of the World Tourism Organization, using the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan and host of the next General Assembly are trying to make it possible to open the door for Zurab to run for a third term.
The last three-term UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli actually helped change the rules to allow only two terms and responded to an open letter in November 2021 through WTN advocacy when the second election for the current UNWTO was manipulated during the COVID period: “It’s exactly what is called a Stalinist trial.”
In 2005 under Mr. Frangiallis’s leadership, bringing the World Tourism Organization into the United Nations system to be continued as the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the UNWTO General Assembly adopted an amendment at its sixteenth session [ resolution 512 ( XVI ) ] in Dakar, Senegal, November–December 2005. Article 22 says: The Secretary-General shall be appointed by a two-thirds majority of Full Members present and voting in the Assembly, on the recommendation of the Council, for a term of four years. His appointment shall be renewable only once.
Unrecognized for years, the sentence to limit the appointment of Secretary-General shall be renewable only once was adopted by 29 countries, but never ratified, even though assumed to be valid.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili knew this already in 2017 and waited for a chance to turn this into his advantage .
His promise to the Hon. Walter Mzembi, former minister of tourism for Zimbabwe in 2017 to be allowed to work with UNWTO to change the statutes if Mzembi would take back his intervention against the 2017 election outcome. This promise was never followed through by the Secretary-General after he took office in 2018 – so nothing was changed.
With the help of Uzbekistan this month, which is hosting next month’s General Assembly, Article 22 will be put on the agenda to be finally ratified.
Magically, the most important paragraph to limit terms for the UNWTO Secretary-General to two terms disappeared. The proposed version for Article 22 is back to what it was before 2005 saying:
The Secretary-General shall be appointed by a two-thirds majority of Full Members present and voting in the Assembly, on the recommendation of the Council, and for a term of four years. His appointment shall be renewable.
Proposed to be ratified by the UNWTO General Assembly in Uzbekistan next month allowing unlimited terms for the UNWTO Secretary General
The Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Hon. Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov is showing face on why his country was supported by Zurab Polikashvili to host the upcoming UNWTO General Assembly on October 16-20 in Samarkand.
Uzbekistan is making the possibility for a third UNWTO SEC GEN term official:
Even though there will not be elections for Secretary General at the Uzbekistan General Assembly, a move to open the doors and change a rule will open the possibility for Mr. Polikashvili to run again at the next General Assembly.
Uzebikista makes it appear it’s not it changing anything, but confirming something that was in place before 2005.
In a letter sent to UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololiashvili, Uzbekistan is requesting pursuant to Rule 5.3 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, to include in the provisional agenda of the 25th session of the General Assembly an item to consider the renewal of the mandate of the Secretary-General, in accordance with Article 22 of the Statutes.
Converting the World Tourism Organization into a Stalinist organization becomes more and more obvious.
Two former UNWTO secretary-general agreed
The World Tourism Network was the first global organization to publish an open letter by two previous UNWTO secretary generals in 2021.
Member countries at the last UNWTO election who voted Mr. Zurab into a second term were busy dealing with a global pandemic.
As a reminder, former secretary general Dr. Taleb Rifai added to the WTN Advocacy with an open letter posted to the World Tourism Network Advocacy project on November 21, 2021, when Zurab made it impossible not to vote against his re-appointment in manipulating timing, and taking advantage of the COVID Panedemic.
Dr. Rifai recapitulated:
- In September 2020 at the 112 Executive Council in Tbilisi, Georgia, the Executive Council decided to hold its 113th session in Spain in January 2021, within the framework of FITUR, on dates to be confirmed by the host country 1.
- At the same meeting, the Council also approved the timeline for the electoral process, with the deadline for submission of candidacies two months from the EC dates, i.e. November 18, 2020, 2.
- One month after the 112 Executive Council meeting, in October 2020, Spain announced that FITUR was postponed to May 2021 due to the prevailing circumstances. In the press release, the attendance at the meeting of the FITUR organizing committee by UNWTO’s Secretary-General Pololikashvili was recognized 3. Regrettably, the Council’s decision to hold the 113 EC session within the framework of FITUR, on dates to be confirmed, was not followed.
- Following the deadline for applications in November, UNWTO issued on November 23rd a note verbale to Members on the receipt of two compliant candidatures 4. Regrettably, the provision approved at the 112 EC to inform Members by December 15th of the received candidatures has not been complied with. Further, it appears that regrettably, up to six candidatures were rejected because they have not been able to submit them in full by the deadline.
- It was at that moment, in December 2020, that together with Francesco Frangialli, we suggested the UNWTO community reconsider the timing of the 113 Executive Council 5. We also alerted that holding it on the January dates would trigger a breach of Financial Regulation 14.7 6, as regrettably happened.
- The 113 Executive Council took place as initially scheduled on January 18 and 19, 2021, with the alternative candidate having had very little time compared with the incumbent to run an effective campaign. In fact, in a social event hosted by the UNWTO on the eve of the council, said candidate regrettably did not attend in protest of the lack of equal opportunities in the campaign.
Dear friends, I never argued the Council’s decision was not legal. As Francesco Frangialli recently put it, legality is not enough. In manipulating the process, you can be both legal and immoral.
It is said in academic circles that if a student fails, it is the student’s problem; but if the whole class fails, it is the teacher’s fault. What to say when the deadline for applications was so short that up to 6 external candidatures out of 7 could not be complied with? Or why this information on rejected candidatures was withheld from Members, even if the Council had requested information on candidatures received to be disseminated?
What to say when the only alternative candidate left was confronting an impossible timeframe for the campaign, most of it through the Christmas and New Year period when Tourism administrations were closing for the year.
WTN: The Importance of fair and diverse leadership in UNWTO
Dr. Peter Tarlow, president of the World Tourism Network, and a global advocate for SMEs in the travel and tourism industry said today:
As president of the World Tourism Network, I want to emphasize the importance of fair elections in all United Nations agencies.
It is essential that leadership rotate between representatives of various nations.
Each nation has different needs and perspectives and by creating diversity in leadership the United Nations World Tourism Organization strengthens tourism around the world.
We at WTN congratulate all that the UNWTO’s past leaders have accomplished and look forward to new ideas and diverse leadership in the future.
(eTN): UNWTO Stalinist Ambitions Made Official by Uzbekistan | re-post license | post content
