Brussels, 07/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Either Roberto Azevedo from Brazil or Herminio Blanco from Mexico is due to be appointed as the next director general of the World Trade Organisation by the evening of 8 May.
At the time of going to press, at the end of the afternoon on Wednesday 7 May, suspense continued to reign on the name of Pascal Lamy's successor as the head of the WTO on 1 September. Nevertheless, rumour seemed more to favour Azevedo - his country's ambassador to the WTO for 16 years.
Finalists in a long process which began at the end of 2012, the two candidates have travelled around the world over the last two weeks, in search of the maximum support from the 159 WTO member countries. A troika, comprising the president of the WTO General Council and two ambassadors, is due to put one of the two candidates forward on the basis of the results of the troika's consultations with the 159 delegations. Leaks have Azevedo the winner, with the support of more or less 110 countries - much more than the 70 votes needed. Nevertheless, a last minute surprise had not been ruled out by the diplomats.
Supported by the BRICS (South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Russia) Azevedo's candidature was handicapped, however, by the protectionist policy which is currently being pursued in his country. Supported by the United States, and also Japan and South Korea, Blanco's candidature suffered, for its part, from this north-American proximity - which is viewed askance by a number of developing countries.
According to a diplomatic source, the 27 EU member states - which must give a single vote - were divided on the choice of candidate. The countries of the South - like Spain, Portugal and Italy - supported Azevedo, while another group - led by the United Kingdom - supported Blanco. On Tuesday, Blanco was giving assurances that the had obtained 99% of EU support. (EH/transl.fl)