Ban Must Throw Out More Old Rascals
By BENNY AVNI
New York Sun
April 9, 2007
Tomorrow is Secretary-General Ban's 100th day in office, but he is far from victory in the battle to rein in the U.N. bureaucracy.
Long ago, back in South Korea's era of high infant mortality, a baby who survived its first 100 days had reached a great milestone. Thus, in the Korean tradition, the completion of the first 100 days of any human enterprise is said to call for a celebration. As in the case of a newborn, if a newly opened store, a budding love affair, or a democratically elected government made it through three-and-a-half months, it was said to have a bright future ahead.
As he took office, Mr. Ban sent several good signals. Departing from his predecessor's legacy, he announced he would immediately fill in a financial disclosure form and make it publicly available. He acted on both in short order, calling on other officials to follow his example.
Kofi Annan was dragged kicking and screaming to fill in his own financial disclosure. As secretarygeneral, he argued that he should not be obliged to abide by the same rules he had enacted to make his administration look more transparent. And the rule, he then added in a lawyerly way, requires only filing the form with an auditing firm, not making it public.
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Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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