WTO talks end without new trade chief

Mchumo appealed to Supachai to step down and quot;help us avert the crisis that hangs over our organisationquot;. But the closed-door talks at WTO headquarters in Geneva were adjourned after nearly four hours without any conclusion and without any date being set for another effort, diplomats said.

One envoy said that the WTO8217;s 134 member states were given a quot;pause for reflectionquot;. The Tanzanian envoy said he still believed hisproposal tabled last Friday to make Moore the next director-general was quot;the most viable one and all we need to do is to work to eliminate the existing difficultiesquot;.

Mchumo last Friday reported that the New Zealander had a numerical majority of 62 against 59 for Supachai among WTO members who had expressed a preference. Diplomats emerging from the closed session said there had been strong protests after Mchumo8217;s latest remarks from countries supporting Supachai, Thailand8217;s deputy Prime Minister.

quot;The chairman had no right to come to this conclusion. It is up to the members to decide,quot; said one European diplomat. Mchumo later insisted that he had the right to declare one candidate eliminated because that was his mandate as chairman.

He also held out the possibility that if the impasse continued on building a consensus, WTO agreements allowing for a vote in such situations could be invoked. quot;I as chairman am managing the selection process. I have the mandate to propose one candidate and that meanseliminating the other,quot; Mchumo told a news conference after the talks.

He said discussions were being adjourned to discuss how to move ahead, but quot;if there is to be a decision, it is whether we choose Mike Moore or notquot;, he said. But some diplomats from the Supachai camp insisted that Mchumo had no right to declare the Thai out of the race.

Japan8217;s trade ambassador Nobutoshi Akao told reporters: quot;It is not his mandate. He made a report and it is up to the Council to accept it or not.quot; There is no set procedure for arranging a vote. Officials said it could take at least a month once this was agreed for WTO members, many of whom are not represented in Geneva, to respond.

Former director-general Renato Ruggiero, who stepped down at the end of his four-year term on Friday, in a statement issued on Tuesday night, urged quot;calm and unityquot; among WTO member states as they continued the process of selecting his successor. quot;This organisation needs now a director-general who is fully empowered to help thepreparation for the ministerial conference and the subsequent negotiations.

quot;I emphasise that the strength of this organisation is largely based on our reaching decisions by consensus and it appears to me that there is no reason why a consensus could not be reached on this issue,quot; Ruggiero added.

Ruggiero appointed David Hartridge, director of WTO8217;s trade in services division, as officer-in-charge to handle day-to-day affairs until a new chief takes up the top post. A US official emerging from the talks insisted that the over whelming majority wanted a consensus around Mchumo8217;s original proposal to appoint Moore. The United States strongly backs the former New Zealand premier.

quot;I don8217;t think anyone wants to see the WTO go for an extended period without leadership,quot; the US official said.