France's Pascal Lamy strengthened his bid to take over as head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Friday when he emerged a clear first in the latest round of soundings of members, diplomats said. The race for the top job in world trade, which began with four candidates, was reduced to just two contenders when Mauritian Foreign Minister Jaya Krischna Cuttaree became the latest to drop out. Cuttaree, who had the backing of a host of poorer states, came narrowly third behind Uruguayan former trade envoy Carlos Perez del Castillo after a second round of consultations with the 148-state membership.
"I have to accept the result of the competition," the Mauritian told Reuters in Port Louis after the latest round of closed-door consultations on the WTO director-general.
Lamy, who was European Union trade commissioner from 1999 to 2004, also came first earlier this month in the initial round of consultations, after which Brazilian candidate Luiz Felipe Seixas Correa dropped out.
Kenya's ambassador to the WTO, Amina Mohamed, who heads the selection panel, was expected to make an announcement at 1700 GMT after a formal meeting of the Geneva-based body which sets the rules for world trade.
A final round of consultations will aim to discover by the end of May whether Lamy or Perez del Castillo can get a consensus backing of the full membership.
If consensus is not possible, then the rules allow for a vote. But diplomats are anxious to avoid an electoral showdown because it could just stir antagonisms at a time when the WTO is already struggling to complete delayed free trade negotiations.
Strong support for Lamy had been expected, with European diplomats saying earlier that they thought he had the backing of at least 75 of the WTO's members.
"Lamy came in a clear first," said one diplomat with knowledge of the latest soundings.
But the selection process is not a straightforward matter of counting preferences. The successful candidate needs to show broad backing across the various regions of the world. It is also important that he does not face vehement opposition.
Diplomats said Cuttaree lost out because many European Union states had put the Uruguayan, a widely-respected former head of the WTO's executive General Council, as their second choice, preferring a run-off against him to the Mauritian.
"It was evident from the start the new rule to have member states express a first and a second choice would play against the candidate coming from a poor country," Cuttaree said.
The WTO was rocked by bitter feuding at the last leadership contest in 1999, and in the end had to agree to split the term in two, with former New Zealand premier Mike Moore serving first, followed by Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand.
The fear is that if the election deteriorates into a confrontation between North and South, as rich and poor nations are usually classified, this could further delay the WTO's Doha Round of free trade negotiations which faces a crucial year.
The round, whose successful conclusion could inject billions of dollars into the world economy, is already behind schedule and the WTO has set an end-year deadline for key accords.
Unlike at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, the head of the WTO has little power of decision, but he can exert significant personal influence.
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