By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 24,
updated --
With the UN
budget fight
going surreal
at 3 am on
December 24,
Inner City
Press was told
by a Permanent
Representative
that "they...
the West"
proposed to
cut the
Department of
General
Assembly and
Conference
Services and
the Department
of Public
Information by
2.9%.
He
counter-proposed,
"why don't
they cut Ban
Ki-moon's
travel, and
consultants?"
Why,
indeed.
Another budget
insider told
Inner City
Press, as of 2
am, that the
UN Pension
Fund items
were agreed,
but
"re-costing is
still in play."
On the second
floor of the
UN's North
Lawn building,
from which
Inner City
Press reported
on the proceedings,
diplomats sat
in the half-light.
Aluminum trays
of Latin food
got told --
blood sausage,
rice and beans
-- while on
the first floor
some got sleep
on couches.
A UN staffer
emerged from
hours of
waiting in a
Conference
Room where, he
was told, the
President of
the General
Assembly would
reconvene a
meeting to
"hash things
out." As of 3
am, it hadn't
happened.
There
again was
Peter Wilson
of the UK and
Alexis Lamek
of France, and
their counterparts
from Russia
and from the
EU, Ionnis
Vrailas. There
was US
Joe Torsella,
on his last
night of UN
budget duty
one assumes.
And amid calls
for cuts,
including
layoffs for
some UN
Security
officers on
January 2, why
is the UN
moving to send
500 blue
helmeted
guards to
Central
African Republic
with mandates
limited to offering
protection to
a smaller
number of UN
staff? Click
here for that
Inner City
Press story.
In the
UN budget
process,
disputes
include the
referenced
$160 million
of
"re-costing"
-- adding back
to the budget
after
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
claimed cuts
-- and the
mobility plan
of Mister Ban.
Ban's
Controller was
present along
with other
staffers.
Apparently
there were no
UN
Spokespeople
working --
Inner City
Press' questions
from Saturday
morning about
the crisis in
South Sudan
went entirely
unanswered for SIXTY hours and counting.
And
Ban's
Spokesperson's
office won't
even hold a
noon briefing
on December
24, after
diplomats
worked all
night on Ban's
budget and
supposed
reform
proposals, and
amid
the South
Sudan crisis.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
@FUNCA_info
has protested.
When
Inner City
Press spoke
with diplomats
working on the
budget, there
were many
critical
comments about
Ban's
"corporate
partnerships"
proposal, some
calling it an
attempt to get
a promotion
for longtime
UN official
Robert Orr,
said to be
very close
with Ban.
At
1 am a source
told Inner
City Press
"they might get
some posts,
but not the
structure."
Notably
absent
from budget
negotiations
on December
23-24, even on
the sidelines,
were the Staff
Union, whose
incumbent is
battling to
stay in
control or
block the
recognition of
Ticket 1, and
those
ostensibly
covering the
UN. Updated
here.
Finland's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Janne Taalas,
the chair of
the Budget
Committee,
joked to about
the sunrise;
on December 21
he'd joked to
Inner City
Press that it
should get
done then
since "this is
the longest
night of the
year." Once
again, down to
the wire.
Watch this
site.
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