ICC
Vote Closed,
French Trade
So Far
Unsuccessful,
UK Puncher's
Chance
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 13 --
After the
build up to
the election
of
International
Criminal Court
judges,
complete with
press
conferences
and
receptions,
the voting on
Tuesday
morning was
conducted in a
room
with a sign:
"Closed."
Through
the glass
windows of the
room several
players were
visible
working the
crowd,
including Bruno
Cathala whose
country,
France,
offered to
exchange
votes with a
candidate
judged
"unqualified"
- click here
for that story.
Miriam
Defensor-Santiago
crossed the
required 70
vote threshold
in the first
round on
Monday, after
a campaign
complete with
speeches in
the North
Lawn building,
lamb chops and
samosas.
Cathala got
only 40 votes
in
the first
round, but a
French mission
diplomat
previously
with the
ICC, like
Cathala, was
working the
crowd.
Howard
Morrison
of the UK got
more votes, at
61, leaving
him with a
puncher's
chance.
The top two
British
diplomats at
the UN were in
the North Lawn
building on
Tuesday
morning; while
their North
Lawn agenda is
not
known,
Morrison's
picture is on
the front page
of the UK
Mission's
web site.
Tunisia's
candidate
withdrew on
December 1 --
another
disgruntled
candidate
told Inner
City Press the
Tunisian had
been
"encouraged"
to
drop out --
and on
December 13,
three more
candidates,
all from
Africa,
dropped out.
ASP through
windows Dec
13, Cathala in
scrum (c)
MRLee
The
tables in
Conference
Room 2 were
full of
campaign
literature.
Why was the
meeting listed
as "closed"? A
conference
officer said
that
on Monday the
rule was
broken, the
room filled
with NGOs. But
the
sign remained
-- "closed" --
with the
possibility of
cracking down
on any media
which went in.
Watch this
site.
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