UN Tourism Manipulation is in full swing under the leadership of conflicted UN Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili, who is using all official UN tourism resources to secure a controversial third term in his mandate.
This Georgian politician has not heard even a petition and open letter from two prior Secretary-Generals meant to urge Zurab to save his legacy and stop his ambition to run for an unprecedented third term.
According to Dr. Walter Mzembi, the first victim of Pololikashvili’s unfair procedures, the only way to guarantee that a UNWTO Member Country’s Choice emerges as the next UN Tourism Secretary-General is to ensure that the first and second runner-ups are subjected to a General Ballot of all 157 Member States to confirm the Executive Council recommendation.
The 32-member Executive Council is too vulnerable to deal cutting, as the May 2017 and 2021 Executive Council elections attested.
The last time the executive committee met, the following 32 members attended. They will make their recommendations and vote for the next UN-Tourism secretary general the next time.
- Daniel Scioli Secretario De Turismo, Ambiente Y Deportes Secretaria de Turismo, Ambiente y Deportes Argentina
- Sos Avetisyan Embajador De Armenia En España Embajada de Armenia en España Armenia
- Jalil Malikov Deputy Head Of Administration – Head Of International Relations State Tourism Agency Azerbaijan
- Fatema Alsairafi Minister Of Tourism, Kingdom Of Bahrain Ministry of Tourism Bahrain
- Mr. Celso Sabino de Oliveira, Minister Of Tourism In Brazil, Ministry of Tourism Brazil
- Evtim Miloshev Minister Of Tourism Ministry of Tourism Bulgaria
- Xu Zhao Director Ministry of Culture and Tourism China
- Juan Oswaldo Manrique Camargo Viceministro De Turismo De Colombia Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo Colombia
- Višnja Letica Advisor To The Minister Ministry of Tourism and Sport Croatia
- Vladimír Eisenbruk Ambassador Of The Czech Republic Embassy of the Czech Republic in Bogotá Czechia
- Didier M’pambia Musanga Ministre Gouvernement Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Carlos Peguero Vice Minister Ministry of Tourism I Dominican Republic
- Ms. Maia Omiadze, Head of Georgian National Tourism Administration, Georgia
- Mr. Muhammad Adam, Ambassador of Ghana
- Ms. Despoina Damianidou, Officer Ministry of Tourism Greece
- Mr. Suman Billa, Additional Secretary Ministry of Tourism India
- Mr. Muhammad Najib, Indonesian Ambassador In Madrid Embassy of Indonesia in Madrid, Indonesia
- Ali Asghar Shalbafian Hosseinabadi Vice-Minister For Tourism Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Giancarlo Maria Curcio Embajador De Italia Embajada de Italia en Colombia Italy
- Cristina Edwards Director Ministry of Tourism Jamaica
- Takuro Furui Director Japan Tourism Agency Japan
- Lidija Bajaruniene Tourism Policy Ministry of Economy and Innovation Lithuania
- Zohra Tazi Directrice Par Intérim De La Stratégie Et De La Coopération Ministère du Tourisme, de l’Artisanat et de l’Economie Sociale et Solidaire Morocco
- Eldevina Carla Jose Materula Minister Of Culture And Tourism Of Republic Of Mozambique Ministry of Culture and Tourism Mozambique
- Albertus Aochamub Ambassador Embassy of Namibia to Spain Namibia
- Dorothy Duruaku, Director of Federal Ministry of Tourism Nigeria
- Bokeun Choi Deputy Minister Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Republic of Korea
- Irene Murerwa Chief Tourism Officer Rwanda Development Board Rwanda
- HE Mr. Ahmed Alkhateeb, Minister Of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia
- Patricia De Lille Minister Of Tourism Ministry of Tourism South Africa
- Rosario Sánchez Grau Secretaria De Estado De Turismo SETUR Spain
- Badreya Almheiri Assistant Undersecretary Ministry of Economy United Arab Emirates
- Rodney M. Sikumba Minister Ministry of Tourism Zambia
Mzembi explained to eTurboNews: “Let this organ shortlist the two top candidates for a Runoff of the General Assembly. That is the Reform that has been avoided over the last 8 years, which Zimbabwe, through my person, was supposed to lead, a recommendation of the UNWTO Chengdu General Assembly.
Spain, as the Host Country, must take responsibility for hosting an authentic Member Country choice at its Capitan Haya address, as part of the Host Country Agreement.
What does it do for Madrid’s and King Philip’s consciences to host a UN electoral fraud on their territory?
The Spanish Government this time around must insist on the right thing!
In his open letter, former UNWTO secretary-general Professor Francesco Frangialli and Dr. Taleb Rifai told Zurab Pololikashvili it was time to go and not insist on a third term.
According to Mzembi, this petition by such industry giants must be redrafted as a Petition to the Host Country Spain to take responsibility for processes happening on their soil and who comes to occupy the new home for UN-Tourism, Capitan Haya address overlooked by their own Spanish Government Ministry or Department of Tourism.
The controversy prompted Gloria Guevara, the former tourism minister of Mexico, and Theoharis, the former minister of Greece, to run in the upcoming May elections for UN-Tourism Secretary General.
Current candidate Harry Theoharis from Greece told eTurboNews that he thinks such changes are too late now, but if he wins the election, he will implement it during his term.
Zurab Pololikashvili’s relationship with the Spanish government deteriorated in February of last year when his ties to Spanish President Pedro Sánchez’s wife and the former CEO of Air Europa, Javier Hidalgo. The trio has been accused of being linked to a major multi-million Euro fraud during the COVID crisis.
When Walter Mzembi was pushed by the Chinese, by Saudi Arabia, and Dr. Rifai during a very controversial General Assembly in Chengdu in 2017, Mzembi was promised a position in the Pololikashvili administration to oversee the process to change the future election process rules within UNWTO. In 2017, Mzembi had insisted on a secret vote to confirm Zurab at the General Assembly. His demand was overruled in a 45-minute debate by former Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai, the delegation from Saudi Arabia, and Spain. In return, Mzembi stopped his objection during the General Assembly against Zurab, went to the stage, and took the following photo:
This promise was forgotten. Zurab never delivered on it, and of course, as everyone can see, for a good reason.
Just a month later, Dr. Taleb Rifai regretted using his influence to help Zurab to be confirmed by acclamation instead of a vote. Rifai is now part of the recent petition to stop Zurab from running for a third term.