[A2k] IP-Watch: Voting Procedures Set for WIPO Director General Vote Next Week

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Intellectual Property Watch

8 May 2008
Voting Procedures Set for WIPO Director General Vote Next Week

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/wp-trackback.php?p=3D1031

By William New
The final procedures appear to be in place for next week=92s all-
important nomination election for the next director general of the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The WIPO Coordination Committee, the 83-member government executive
body of the UN organisation, will meet on 13 May to narrow 15
candidates down to one. The new director general would take office for
a six-year term on 1 October, the day after the scheduled conclusion
of the General Assembly that must finalise the approval.

Next week=92s Coordination Committee meeting is scheduled to last as
long as three days, through 15 May, if necessary. The committee=92s
recommendation will be forwarded for final approval to the General
Assembly, where sources say approval is likely.

Under the final rules of procedure, all voting will be by secret
ballot, most likely on preprinted paper ballots deposited into a
transparent box by two tellers drawn by lot among a list of volunteer
delegates from each regional group, WIPO officials said. There first
round will be an informal straw poll in which each member names their
top two choices. This poll will not count but may lead to some
candidates withdrawing.

In the actual voting, the lowest-scoring two candidates will be
eliminated in each round until there are nine candidates remaining,
after which there will be one eliminated in each round. During the
meeting, between the plenary voting sessions there will be intensive
periods of informal negotiating among members. Near the end, it would
be possible that members could reach agreement on the final candidate
through informal negotiation rather than vote, an official said.

This election=92s procedure offers more opportunity for consultation and
slower progress through the candidates than the last election in 1997,
which resulted in the election of current Director General Kamil
Idris, who will retire from the post one year early under pressure
from some member states. Although the new director general will take
office on 1 October, Idris will be paid his salary for an overlapping
14 months to the end of his original term, in late 2009, according to
WIPO officials.

In next week=92s meeting, there is a procedure for dealing with tie
votes. If the tie does not involve candidates with the least number of
votes, it does not affect the process. If it occurs among those with
the least number, the chair could decide to hold a new round between
the tied candidates only.

Of WIPO=92s 184 members, only 83 governments will get to cast votes as
members of the Coordination Committee. The other members communicate
their views individually and through WIPO=92s seven regional groups, six
of which are based on geographic regions and one including the world=92s
largest economies (and holders of the vast majority of intellectual
property rights). The Coordination Committee makeup is agreed by
consensus by members at the annual WIPO General Assembly. Any member
that belongs to a WIPO treaty or union is eligible for the committee.

There has been unconfirmed discussion of suggested offers to countries
of senior posts within WIPO if a certain candidate is elected. The
director general has the authority to recommend the most senior
officials to the membership, which typically accepts those nominations.

The 15 candidates are: Alicja Adamczak (Poland), Toufiq Ali
(Bangladesh), Jorge Amigo Casta=F1eda (Mexico), Jos=E9 Gra=E7a Aranha
(Brazil), Gjorgji Filipov (Macedonia), Francis Gurry (Australia),
Masood Khan (Pakistan), Enrique Manalo (Philippines), Mauro Masi
(Italy), James Otieno Odek (Kenya), Philippe Petit (France), Bojan
Pretnar (Slovenia), Boris Simonov (Russia), Yoshiyuki Takagi (Japan),
and Jos=E9 Delmer Urbizo (Honduras).

The biographies of the candidates are on the WIPO website, and
interviews with the candidates are on Intellectual Property Watch, www.ip-w=
atch.org
.

The chair of the Coordination Committee is Hilde Skorpen of Norway.

The current members of the Coordination Committee are: Afghanistan (ad
hoc), Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh,
Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile,
China, Colombia, Costa Rica, C=F4te d=92Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People=92s
Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia (ad hoc),
Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Korea, Latvia,
Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia,
Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
(ex officio), Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United
Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, and
Zambia.

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997