Jesús Seade was eliminated from the race for occupying the position of Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Despite the lack of formal power of the WTO General Secretariat, the Director-General is an advocate for the global trading system and often exercises “soft power”, relying on diplomatic and political clout to help members to build consensus or break deadlocks, an increasingly difficult task in recent years, according to an analysis by the US Congress.
As a result, some have argued that the Secretariat should have more authority to submit proposals and promote new rules.
In the current race for the Directorate General, analysts have called in various ways for an «honest broker» and negotiator, a politician over a technocrat or a «peacemaker.»
Initially, the Mexican Jesús Seade, the British Liam Fox, the Saudi Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, the Kenyan Amina C. Mohamed, the Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Egyptian Abdel-Hamid participated in the election to occupy the post of Director General. Mamdouh, the Moldovan Tudor Ulianovschi and the South Korean Yoo Myung-hee.
Jesús Seade and the candidates from Moldova and Egypt did not gather the necessary votes in the first round of voting. With this, the candidates from South Korea, Nigeria, Kenya, the European Union and Saudi Arabia are now in the running.
Jesús Seade
Managing Director qualifications include “extensive experience in international relations, encompassing economic, commercial and / or political experience; a strong commitment to the work and objectives of the WTO; proven leadership and management skills; and demonstrated communication skills ”.
Jesús Seade was the chief negotiator for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and has had a history in positions of the WTO and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Jesús Seade was also the Ambassador of Mexico to the GATT and Chief Negotiator of the Uruguay Round of Negotiations, which created the WTO; Deputy Director General of the GATT and founding Deputy Director General of the WTO.
