Indonesia rejects Iran?s suggestion for rotating OPEC leadership
Saturday, October 4 2003 - 12:49 AM WIB
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had failed to appoint a new secretary-general to replace Alvaro Silva Calderon of Venezuela during its meeting last week in Vienna, Austria and postponed the selection to December 4, 2003.
Iran?s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Wednesday in Tehran that the OPEC could adopt a rotating system of leadership if it does not reach an agreement by end of the year on who should be its next secretary-general.
OPEC may not appoint an Iranian as its leader but a rotating system is likely to be a possibility, said Zanganeh.
"In the current situation, I don't think that could happen because there is no agreement on any candidate, unless the position of secretary-general becomes a rotating post," he said.
But Purnomo, who will take the presidency of OPEC from January 1, 2004, said he was opposed to the suggestion.
?The secretary-general isn?t decided based on alphabetical order of the OPEC members, but the position is elected through an unanimous decision,? Purnomo said.
The current secretary-general Calderon would remain in place until end of the year. OPEC will be holding its next meeting on December 4.
OPEC?s all 11 members have to reach a consensus on the new secretary-general, a process fraught with politics and historic rivalries.
The current list of possible candidates for the influential post in the oil cartel comprise incumbent Calderon, Kuwait?s Adnan Shihab-Eldin, research director at the OPEC Secretariat, and Iran?s former United Nations envoy Hadi Aejad-Husseinian. (*)