UNWTO’S SECRETARY GENERAL ELECT AMBASSADOR ZURAB POLOLIKASHVILI CONFIRMED BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
(Posted 14th September 2017)
(Outgoing Secretary General of UNWTO Dr. Taleb Rifai congratulates his confirmed successor Ambassador Zurab Pololikashvili)
The ill conceived campaign – many have suggested purely unleashed for monetary gains – by a certain media organization to have the confirmation of Secretary General Elect Ambassador Zurab Pololikashvili stopped, has miserably failed when the UNWTO’s 22nd General Assembly in Chengdu / China ignored all the dirt, insinuations and allegations and confirmed Zurab with the more than the required majority.
The vote also completely exonerates and vindicates the outgoing Secretary General of UNWTO Dr. Taleb Rifai, who himself has been at the receiving end from the media house when daring to denounce their negative campaign in August during the meeting of UNWTO in Madrid.
The world of tourism is already giving Ambassador Zurab a befitting ovation on his confirmation as messages of congratulation are now pouring in from a wide cross section of UNWTO member countries while those on the losing side are now licking their wounds and are trying to restore the bridges they burned in the runup to the vote in Chengdu earlier today.
The negative campaign has dented and eroded confidence in the seriousness of that media organization and given the vicious nature of its campaign against UNWTO and the new Secretary General elect – ahead of the initial vote and more so ever since – is it now very likely that the new SG will react accordingly and work hand in hand with more ‘friendly‘ media instead in the future.
The African Union too will now face more pressure to finally own up and investigate how an apparent underling was able to sign a letter threatening the Republic of Seychelles with sanctions, prompting the withdrawal of support by the Seychelles to their own candidate for SG Alain St. Ange. It has been alleged at the time that the so called ‘Old Boys Network‘ at the African Union was responsible for that uncalled for if not outright illegal action when another candidate used murky methods too to have his election rival forced out.
As the final months on the Secretary Generalship of Dr. Taleb Rifai are now winding down – the SG Elect will take office on the 01st of January 2018 – will all eyes be turning to Ambassador Zurab to see what team he will put into place and what key agenda points for his first 100 days in office he will set.
Meanwhile congratulations and best wishes to Ambassador Zurab on his election victory after continuously and confidently taking the moral high ground over the mud throwers opposed to him.
