Bhagwati slams US on WTO wrangle

By Yoke Har Lee

The Americans are mismanaging the succession of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to eminent free trade proponent, Professor Jagdish Bhagwati.

A lack of transparency in the election process has also left the world in the dark as to which candidate is best suited for the new director general's job.

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, and former New Zealand Labour Party leader Mike Moore have been locked in the battle for the new director-general's post, with no resolution in sight.

Professor Bhagwati said: "We have gone back to the mismanagement of governance of the old days. I am disappointed with the way the succession issue is being managed so badly by Washington.

"I think it is time to end this - the making of deals behind the scenes by a bunch of politicians deciding which other politicians are to be rewarded."

Professor Bhagwati said as an outsider with a keen interest in the affairs of the WTO, he found it frustrating that the WTO, which aspires to seek more transparency, had shrouded its own election process.

"The contest is being carried out without anybody really knowing what they [the two candidates] stand for. All of this is very frustrating because I admire both of them. Both are very accomplished people but I would like to know where they stand on issues."

The WTO needed to have a top class person to deal with complex issues.

"The job is very much more complex than it was years ago. Then it was simply a fight against protectionism, but the problems were well-defined. The new director-general needs to be able to contextualise the new trade issues and then sell it."

In Mr Moore's case, for example, Professor Bhagwati said, his union background might make him seem sympathetic to labour standards being linked to trade within WTO negotiations.