By Elishya Perera
GENEVA (CWBN)_ The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has cancelled a meeting scheduled for Monday, during which, Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was expected to be appointed as the body’s next director general.
“For reasons including the health situation and current events, delegations will not be in a position to take a formal decision on 9th November,” a WTO document said.
On 28th October, it was reported that even though the former Nigerian finance minister secured the overwhelming backing of the WTO’s 164 members, the Trump administration opposed her selection. The US, critical of the WTO’s handling of global trade, expressed a preference for another woman, South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee, for the position.
The Office of the US Trade Representative, which advises President Donald Trump on trade policy, said in a statement that Myung-hee has “all the skills necessary to be an effective leader of the organisation”, and claimed that the organisation “must be led by someone with real, hands-on experience in the field”.
Even though, Okonjo-Iweala was not mentioned in the statement, she has secured backing from the EU, China, Japan and Australia, and would be the first woman and first African to lead the WTO, if appointed.
According to trade experts, President Trump’s defeat in the US Presidential Election, last week, may have led the member states to call for a delay in the WTO leadership race, with the intention of securing support from the United States for Okonjo-Iweala after President-elect Joe Biden takes charge in January next year.
The WTO said that the meeting would be postponed until further notice, during which time the Chair of the General Council, Ambassador David Walker, would continue undertaking consultations with delegations from countries around the world to pick a new leader.
Edited By Chathushka Perera
