A Japanese diplomat took a clear lead over four rivals in a straw poll held on Tuesday to identify a frontrunner to take over the UN nuclear agency, but it was not enough to defuse fears of another election impasse. Japan's Yukiya Amano drew almost twice as much support as the next contender, South Africa's Abdul Samad Minty. But he again fell short of a two-thirds majority needed for victory, as he had in an inconclusive election three months ago.
While giving Amano fresh momentum in the contest to replace Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, who leaves office in November, Tuesday's non-binding poll did not raise hopes he would emerge triumphant in a second-round election on July 2. Another stalemate could prolong the race for months and cause disarray in the International Atomic Energy Agency. Meanwhile the fate of a wobbling nuclear non-proliferation regime, which the UN watchdog is supposed to maintain, is hanging in the balance.
North Korea conducted new nuclear and missile tests last month after kicking out IAEA inspectors and leaving six-party denuclearisation talks. Iran is pursuing uranium enrichment, of potential use in building atom bombs, while restricting IAEA monitoring and shunning new US diplomatic overtures. The IAEA's board of governors is divided between developed nations, which want a hard line against alleged proliferators, and poorer countries who want the agency to focus more on getting the rich to share nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
"It is worrisome that there is a complete North-South split. This could lead to a total paralysis of the IAEA at a time when the world is facing increasing security and proliferation risks," a senior diplomat close to the agency told Reuters. The straw poll aimed to pinpoint the top 2-3 contenders and nudge others to pull out of the race.
Amano, a veteran IAEA ambassador, took 20 of 35 votes cast, while Minty garnered 11, diplomats told Reuters. Luis Echavarri, Spanish head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's nuclear arm, won four votes. Belgium's Jean-Pol Poncelet, a senior executive at French nuclear group Areva, and Slovenian constitutional judge Ernest Petric failed to win any. Petric, a former Slovenian IAEA envoy, indicated he could drop out in coming days. There was no comment from the others.