UNITED NATIONS. Oct 9: The 54-member Commonwealth remains divided over who will be its next Secretary-General. reports IPS.

The two candidates vying for the Job are Don Mckinnon. the foreign minister of new Zealand, and Farooq Sobhan. a former foreign secretary of Bangladesh and ex-chairman of the "Group of 77” developing countries.

Of the 54 members. 50 are from the developing world, and four from the developed world, namely Britain. Australia. Canada and New Zealand.

The successful candidate will be voted into office early next month. "It will be a very close fight." predicts Sobhan. who says there has never been an Asian Secretary-General although Asia accounts for two-thirds of the population of the Commonwealth.

The closed-door elections are scheduled for Nov 12 during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Durban. South Africa. The Commonwealth Secretary-General is the only International institutional head who is personally voted into office by heads of governments.

Sobhan points out that the Commonwealth Secretariat —

which has an annual budget of about 16 million dollars — has long been dominated by the four Western nations.

Two of the three posts of Deputy Secretaries-General (DSG) are traditionally occupied by Britain and Canada.

The current DSG for Development is Nick Hare of Canada while the DSG for Economic Affairs is Dame Veronica Sutherland of Britain. The third DSG is the only one from a developing nation. Kris Srinivasan of India, who is in charge of Political Affairs.

Additionally, says Sobhan. a British national recently was appointed Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, to succeed Humayun Khan of Pakistan.

“It is important to maintain a balance between developed and developing nations." argues Sobhan. this is the key to encouraging a sense of belonging and sense of proportion among developing countries."

One Asian envoy — whose country is backing Mckinnon — says however that the Commonwealth for a long time has been "one big happy family" and that Sobhan's candidature has created a divisive element and split the Commonwealth."

Moreover, he points out. the

current secretary-general Is from a developing nation, as was his predecessor.

Last month, after a prolonged deadlock. Mike Moore, a former Prime Minister of New Zealand was elected to head the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva. If Mckinnon wins, he will be the second New Zealander to hold a high-profile international Job.

"Mckinnon is without question a person of outstanding qualities." admits Sobhan. but he adds that, since New Zealand already has the WTO Job. it would be unfair for a New Zealander to be head of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is now the cat's paw of the four Western nations." says Sobhan. "if you want to promote good governance and democracy you should not be eroding the credibility of the organisation."

Good governance and democracy Is on the national agenda of every developing country, he says.

"But how can you preach democratic principles to ua when you don't apply the same principles to international organisations where the majority of nations are from the developing world?"