Interview

“Quit when things look good”

Why do you accept an interview now that you are quitting the Staff Council and refused to be interviewed when you were elected as Executive Secretary (ES)?

For two reasons: First, I like to do something different. Normally, UN Special interviews newly elected ES. I refused at that time because I had nothing new to say, apart from repeating what my predecessors had said. Second, we have a saying: as soon as you leave, the tea will become cold behind you. I accept this interview in order to keep the tea warm for a little while longer, so to speak.

Then, why don’t you stay on so that the tea remains warm all the time?

In the first place, the Executive Secretary is not a permanent post, although I have no doubt about being reelected in the competition. Secondly, please allow me quote another Chinese proverb: one should quit the stage while the applause continues. I decide to stop now because I feel great and have nothing to regret. Otherwise I would stay on until I accomplish what I wanted to achieve.

Do you mean you have achieved what you wanted? In other words, you think that you have made some achievements?

Sorry, I fall into my own trap. Before answering your question, let me say this: my reply will either sound immodest or admitting myself useless and having done nothing. In the first case, I would appear unlike a Chinese because being modest is one of our characteristics. In the second case, I would do injustice not only to myself but also to other Council members in general and Bureau members in particular. Yet I can't leave your question unanswered.
Let me use a different approach by avoiding the word achievements. Although I am not in favor of PAS, yet I consider it unfortunate that PAS does not apply to the Executive Secretary. Otherwise I would get at least B rating (Frequently exceeds performance expectations). I do sound boasting and immodest. Besides, in Geneva, the fact that the Executive Secretary is in charge instead of the president means that I only execute decisions of the Council and the Bureau. In this way any progress is a collective result, and all credits should go to everybody. The circulars of 100 Days and 200 Days as well as the annual report of the Council clearly show this collective effort.

What is your one-year experience as Executive Secretary?

It is a challenging job. It is said that this post is a special training course of the United Nations where you learn practically everything, good or bad, within the system. I became a unionist more than 15 years ago and for years I have been in the Executive Bureau, therefore, I'm not completely new to the job. The only difference is that the Executive Secretary has to be responsible for all the decisions right or wrong. I'm a chess lover. I often regard being ES as playing chess. When you make a move, you need to foresee several moves ahead, especially if your counterpart has more means and more resources than you do. Nowadays, Staff representation business is different from your days when you were a Bureau member or the President. I remember that at that time, there were different electoral lists but no "opposition". After an election all lists generally worked together in harmony. Presently, Staff representatives, in particular the Executive Secretary and also the deputy ES, have to negotiate with an Administration which is always reluctant in making concessions, while at the same time, have to face a blind opposition. I mean that they oppose anything you do. If you say this is white, they will automatically say it's black. In this sense, we are doing not bad.
Besides, staff members, i.e. our constituents, are not very motivated. To put it frankly, their morale is not as high as it should be. In practical terms, it's difficult to get them out of office to meetings or to vote. Some even don't read circulars that the Council issues. Yet very often it is these people who complain that they are not informed. This makes the staff representatives vulnerable, as they don't feel being strongly supported by their constituents. Yet, constituents are not to blame, because the endless bickering among staff representatives has very often taken away their confidence in us. So for staff representation to be credible, we must stop this kind of suicidal quarrel among staff representatives. Over the past year, situations have been improved.
Although not disappearing completely, papers or posters full of unfounded accusations have lost a lot of momentum. Arbitration Commission met less frequently and all the appeals were rightly rejected. Hopefully, all the activities over the past year, for example the free and successful staff Gala held at the end of last year and the recent Long Service Award would help motivate the staff and raise their morale further.
I also find that the only privilege of being ES is to be always ready to be opposed/attacked not only by your opponent but also by those from your own list. To deal with attacks from your counterpart and opponent is relatively easy because you are prepared and on guard. But attacks from your own rank are subtler. Of course apart from these delicate difficulties, there are all sorts of reasonable and unreasonable demands from staff. Because of these difficulties, one can learn a lot even within a very short period of one year. Looking things from this angle, I'd say that ES is an interesting and enjoyable post.

Then, why do you stop while you think you are doing well?

As I said at the beginning that you quit when things look good. In this way you don't feel ashamed. Moreover ES is a post that many people envy. Personal ego and jealousy are part of human nature. We should also give others a chance. Besides, I wish to do something else.

Like what?

As you know, the election of participants' representatives on the United Nations Staff Pension Committee (UNSJPC) will be held soon. Both you and myself as well as Mrs. Gantet, Mrs. Fleury et Mr. Mporamazina are candidates from UNOG. All five of us or whoever among us if elected have a very important responsibility to defend our pension interests. Since the US dollar devalues rapidly, we painfully see our pension evaporate day by day. We must do something about it. We all know that we should not put all eggs in only one basket, yet we rely on only one currency, the US dollar. This system should be changed, other currency or currencies should be introduced, for example, the euro. This sounds naive or impossible now, but may be the only way to protect our pension from shrinking. I'd better I stop here, otherwise I will be accused of doing an electoral campaign for myself.
To conclude, let me urge all those who do read this interview to go to vote. There will be two elections at the same time: the UNOG Staff Council election and the election of UNSJPC. Whatever candidate you vote is not important, but your participation does matter and does make a difference. Iraqis risk their lives to go to polls, while you risk nothing, you should cherish your right!
Thank you.