Dr Salim: UN secretary general who never was

Contributing a chapter entitled ‘Salim’s Service at the UN’ in a book titled Dr Salim Ahmed Salim: Son of Africa, Marekia, an expert in peace studies and international relations, writes that throughout his days at the UN, Dr Salim sought to show the world that he was a leader from the developing world who was dedicated to balancing out economic, political, and other systems that polarised the world at that time.

As Permanent Representative for about a decade, Dr Salim headed various organs of the UN. He was president of the 34th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA-1979); president of the 6th and 7th emergency special sessions of the UNGA (1980); and president of the 11th Special Session of the UNGA (1980).

He also held key positions in various special committees: in June/July 1972, he was chairman of the UN Special Mission to Niue (an island in the South Pacific); drafting committee member of the Political Committee of the Ministerial Conference of Non-Aligned States in Georgetown, Guyana, in August 1972; and chairman of the Political Committee of the International Conference of Experts for the Support of Victims of Colonialism and Apartheid in Southern Africa, based in Oslo, in April 1973.

One of Dr Salim’s notable roles was as chairman of the UN’s Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (the UN Special Committee on Decolonization).

He was also chairman of the UN Security Council Committee on Sanctions against Southern Rhodesia (1975). In January 1976, Dr Salim served as the president of the UN Security Council. He also played important roles in various special committees. He was chair of the High-Level Ad Hoc Group of the Special Committee on Decolonization in April and May 1976 and chair of the Drafting Committee of the Fifth Conference of Heads of States of Government of the Non-Aligned States, Colombo, in August 1976.

 In May 1977, Salim was vice president of the International Conference in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia and chaired the committee for that conference, held in Maputo. He was also president of the International Conference on Sanctions against Apartheid in South Africa (1981), president of the Paris International Conference against Apartheid (1984), and he served on the Palme Independent Commission on International Security Issues as well as on the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues.

In the 2015 book that was edited by Jakkie Cilliers, Marekia notes that although Dr Salim is mostly acknowledged for his accomplishments in and for Africa, he was also actively involved in lobbying for the rights of non-African nations during his tenure at the UN.

“For example, in 1971, while chairing the UN Special Committee on Decolonization, Salim became involved in the process of regaining China’s seat in the UN. China had, for almost two decades, unsuccessfully made efforts to have its lawful rights restored at the UN but had been met with strong resistance by the US and others…,” writes Marekia.

And,  Dr Salim did not hide Tanzania’s position even when he addressed the UNGA.

Marekia quotes Dr Salim as having once told the UNGA that the UN seat, which has been unlawfully occupied by the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek, should have belonged to representatives of the People’s Republic of China for a period of 22 years now.

This, Dr Salim said, should have been the logical outcome after the new Chinese nation was born with the victory of the popular forces led by the great leader of the Chinese people, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, and the flight of Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of a feudal and reactionary regime.

Despite realising the steady and spectacular progress in China and a growing realisation of the significance of China as a great power for over two decades, the systematic opposition of the United States kept China out of the UN.

“At this late stage of our debate, there is no point in providing the Assembly with a detailed recollection of the various manoeuvres by which the United States of America succeeded in avoiding the proper representation of China in the United Nations…” Dr Salim said. However, according to Salim, his support for China was considered a vote in opposition to America.

According to Marekia, Dr Salim categorically disagrees with the perspective. In his view, support for China was not undertaken in opposition to the capitalist agenda or in favour of the communist agenda. Instead, Dr Salim believes, it was just inacceptable that the UN as an international entity could exclude a country with, at the time, a population of about 800 million people.

But with the world polarised by the dynamics of the Cold War, Dr Salim’s support for China could not have been taken rightly by America.

That, according to Marekia, was also the time when the world was divided along the lines of countries backed by the capitalist West (i.e., US-allied nations), those backed by the communist East led by the Soviet Union and China, and, increasingly, a group of non-aligned countries.

It was against such a background that in 1981, when Dr Salim presented his candidature for the position of secretary-general of the UN, his bid was unsuccessful despite overwhelming support from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the South Pacific.

The US and China, in their positions as permanent members, used their veto powers against each other’s preferred candidates.

The US consistently voted against Salim’s candidature, preferring the Austrian candidate, Kurt Waldheim; China voted against Waldheim in support of Salim.

The UK and Russia abstained; France voted in favour of Salim. With the process of voting for a secretary-general requiring the support, or at least non-opposition, of all the permanent members of the Security Council and a majority vote from the UNGA, Dr Salim decided to opt out of the race.

In his statement on withdrawing his candidature from the UN Secretary-General race, he said: “I, as a Tanzanian, as an African, and as an individual, have been very much attached to the United Nations and unequivocally committed to its principles and purposes.

For many years, I have been associated with the United Nations in one capacity or another. I have also had the honour and privilege of assuming different positions of responsibility within the organisation.”

In his withdrawal statement, presented to the Security Council on December 10, 1981, by the Permanent Representative of Botswana and chairman of the African Group, Mr Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, Dr Salim said that despite commanding huge support from the general membership, it was still not possible for him to win the hearts of all members of the council.

“Since the results of the first round of balloting were known, I myself and the OAU [the Organisation of African Unity] member states have made considerable efforts to obtain the support of a permanent member whose position on my candidature has thus far made it not possible for me to be recommended... I have just informed the President of the Security Council to set aside my name from subsequent ballots that the council may hold in the present circumstances,” said Dr Salim.