President-elect of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman on Thursday indicated he may continue to discharge his responsibilities in both capacities concurrently, citing the example of Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury, the last Bangladeshi before him to be elected UNGA president.
The foreign minister dedicated the victory to Bangladesh’s future, as the country reclaimed the post four decades later.
“Will I leave this (foreign minister’s) job? Is that the question? Don’t be so hurried. There is precedence,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while responding to a question.
Dr Rahman noted that Bangladesh last held the prestigious position forty years ago (1986-87), when then Foreign Minister Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury was elected President of the 41st General Assembly.
“I was his private secretary and we worked with him. He worked in both posts full-time,” Dr Khalilur said.
Those who follow foreign affairs have been informally discussing whether Dr Khalilur would step down from his current responsibilities as Bangladesh's Foreign Minister to serve full-time at the UN, or attempt to carry out both roles simultaneously.
The foreign minister, however, made it clear during an informal interactive dialogue at the UN on May 13 that resignation is not the only option.
“Will I resign? No, my Prime Minister (Tarique Rahman) has told me very clearly that he's going to let me off for one year to do a full-time job. Resignation is not the only option. I can get a leave,” he had said while responding to a question during the informal dialogue.
There have been instances in the past where foreign ministers simultaneously served as President of the United Nations General Assembly while retaining their ministerial portfolios.
For example, Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives concurrently served as the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs while serving as President of the 76th session of the UNGA in 2021.
Khalilur Rahman’s presidency will coincide with one of the most consequential processes on the UN calendar - the selection of Secretary-General António Guterres’s successor, whose term ends on December 31, 2026.
The 81st session will open on September 8, with world leaders gathering two weeks later for the annual high-level debate at UN Headquarters, in New York.
In a secret-ballot election, Dr Rahman secured 99 votes to Kakouris’s 91. A total of 190 ballots were cast, with no invalid votes or abstentions. Three countries did not vote.
Describing the election for the Presidency of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as “highly contested,” Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir earlier said Bangladesh, as a soft power, will play a positive role in promoting global stability.
“Bangladesh is a soft power. It is an emerging tiger that engages in international politics from a soft-power perspective, seeking to mediate and influence outcomes for the greater good,” he told reporters in New York soon after Bangladesh’s victory against Cyprus on Tuesday night.
Kobir said the election was highly competitive and that Bangladesh had taken a bold decision to enter the race.
“We were confident of the support that our Prime Minister enjoys, backed by a two-thirds majority of our people. The Prime Minister gave us the confidence and support to put forward our candidature, despite entering the contest relatively late,” he said.
MSH
