On
Mali, Ban Says
Accepts
Results Even
If Election
Imperfect –
How Much?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 16 –
While in Paris
for the
Bastille Day
parade, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon was quoted,
as to Mali,
that “the
results, even
if the
election is
imperfect,
must be
respected by
all
parties.”
In
French: “Les
résultats,
même si
l'élection
peut
être
imparfaite,
doivent être
respectés par
toutes les
parties.”
At
the UN in New
York on
Tuesday, Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky if Ban
really said it
– the phrase
didn't seem to
appear in
a search of
the Ban
transcripts
e-mailed by
the UN – and
if so, is
there no level
of
imperfection
that would
legitimate not
accepting
the election?
Nesirky
confirmed
the quote,
adding it was
said in France
at the
Francophonie
organization,
and insisted
it was sent
out. He said
not to read
too
much into it,
that everyone
knows how
difficult the
election will
be.
Yes,
Inner City
Press follow
up, but how
can he say in
advance that
the election
must
be accepted,
no matter how
imperfect?
France
and other
certainly want
the election
held before
the end of
July, and
would
like its
results –
regardless –
to be
accepted. But
can the UN
tell people to
accept a
result before
having any
sense of how
imperfect it
is? Couldn't
that UN
statement be
seen as
inviting
fraud?
To
be fair, while
it appears
that the
Francophonie
Q&A was
not e-mailed
out to
correspondents,
it does appear
on the UN's
“off the cuff”
website, here.
Inner
City Press
has previously
asked
why in a
transcript of
a press
conference by
Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson, its
introduction
on behalf of
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
was removed
from the
transcript,
while
the similar
statement of
the UN's
partner UNCA
was left in.
An
answer to that
question has
been promised.
Watch this
site.
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