UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has just taught us a virtue that puts everything we have learned until now on its head: to re-count, to double-check, to verify, to make certain is improper, says he. Indeed, the African Union’s latest communiqué on the post-electoral crisis in Cote d’Ivoire spells the prospect of a vote recount; which will, once and for all, settle the post-electoral dispute between President Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara. This is a solution that President Gbagbo has been pushing for since the beginning of the crisis.
In several interviews, such as the ones he accorded to American journalist George E. Curry or French journalist Michel Denisot, President Gbagbo has reiterated his pitch for a recount as a way to end the crisis. He promised to step down if a fair recount ends up establishing that he is the loser of the election.
Over time, several African leaders, among whom Presidents Mbeki, Rawlings, Dos Santos, Zuma, Pires, Museveni, Condé, and Jammeh, seem to have been conquered by this good judgment. And against such France-led warmongers as Compaoré of Burkina Faso and Wade of Senegal, the majority of African leaders seem to lean toward re-counting the votes in Cote d’Ivoire.
For Ban Ki-Moon, whose representative in Cote d’Ivoire has created the post-electoral dilemma by recklessly, precipitously, illegally, and partially proclaiming Ouattara the winner, recounting the votes is improper and will set up a chilling precedent. Which world does Ban Ki-Moon really live in where double-checking constitutes a flaw rather than a virtue? Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, where I come from, double-checking, verifying, making sure, or ascertaining is a virtue and not a human defect. Where I come from, we always ask our students to double-check their answers before submitting them.
Where I come from, carpenters always advise us to measure twice and cut once. Where I come from, we check and balance. Where I come from, “checking and double-checking” is a way to ensure accuracy. Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, I have to admit that each time I think I have witnessed the biggest irrationality out of the United Nations the next absurdity comes even bigger.
I know how frightening and degrading it is for the United Nations to admit mistakes; but the fate of 20 million people is much more important than the bruised egos of the crooked functionaries that work in your institution. In many places, vote recounts have settled disputes. Do not be an obstacle to a vote recount in Cote d’Ivoire. Stop being an impediment to peace in Cote d’Ivoire
Source: http://frindethie.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/mr-ban-ki-moon-are-you-serious-m-frindethie/ http://frindethie.wordpress.com/2011/01 ... /div#ed_cl#
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Ban Ki-Moon, are you serious?
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