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| Ambassador Phạm Sanh Châu, the Vietnamese candidate for the position of UNESCO Director-General. — VNA/VNS Photo |
Viet Nam News
PARIS — Phạm Sanh Châu, Vietnamese candidate for the director-general position of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), decided to withdraw his name prior to the third round of voting on Wednesday.
The third round saw the breakthrough of French candidate Audrey Azouley, who secured 18 out of 58 votes of the UNESCO Executive Board, sharing top spot with Qatari candidate Hammad bin Al-Kawari.
The candidate from Egypt, Moushira Khattab, bagged the third spot with 13 votes, while Chinese candidate Qian Tang and Lebanese Vera El Khoury received five and four votes, respectively.
The fourth round of voting is supposed to be held later on Thursday.
The Vietnamese candidate’s pulling out of such a highly competitive race is not an unusual move in international relations.
Michael Worbs, chairman of the UNESCO Executive Board, appreciated the Vietnamese’ notable jump in the second round. Other members of the council said his withdrawal would help to pool votes for the remaining candidates, which would mean fewer chances for more tied results as witnessed in the previous two rounds.
In the run-up to selecting a candidate for the director-general position of UNESCO, most countries will pull out of the race if their candidate fails to secure 10 or more votes in two rounds.
Phạm Sanh Châu used his election campaign as an opportunity to help bring Việt Nam, its nature, people and culture to the attention of the international community, incumbent UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova told Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Hà Kim Ngọc, leader of the Vietnamese delegation to UNESCO, during the 202nd session of the Executive Board (October 4-18, 2017)
Việt Nam’s bid for the leading position of a respectable global organisation such as UNESCO has made evident its commitment to actively contribute to the international community.
The election campaign, despite the unfavourable results, has been a learning experience for the country in the process of deepening international integration. — VNS
