Kenyan and Uruguayan candidates vie for top UPU spot

24.07.2012 - Kenya and Uruguay have officially presented candidates for the position of director general of the Universal Postal Union, which will be elected on 10 October 2012 during the 25th Universal Postal Congress in Doha, Qatar.

 UPU member countries on 10 October will elect the organization's new leadership, which will take over in January 2013

The candidate from Uruguay, Serrana Bassini Casco, is secretary general of the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP), based in Montevideo, since 2006. Before, she was an advisor at PUASP and also held several positions at the Uruguayan Post. She is a lawyer and public notary by profession.

The Kenyan candidate, Ambassador Bishar A. Hussein, is the chairman of the UPU’s 2009-2012 Council of Administration. He is also a past vice-chair of the UPU’s Postal Operations Council and chair of the UPU’s 24th Congress in Geneva in 2008. A former chief executive officer of the Kenyan Post, he has also served as his country’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

American, Swiss run for deputy position

The UPU’s 192 member countries will also elect a deputy director general. Switzerland is presenting the candidacy of Pascal Thierry Clivaz, while the United States of America is putting forth Dennis Delehanty as its candidate for the position.

Mr. Clivaz is the director of finance and strategic planning at the UPU’s International Bureau in Berne since 2005. He is a former director of international affairs at the Swiss Post and a former board member of the Swiss Post General Secretariat.

Mr. Delehanty is the director for postal affairs at the U.S. State Department. Before, he was in charge of the international postal affairs programme at the United States Postal Service and worked at the UPU International Bureau in the late 80s and early 90s.

Officials will be elected for a four-year mandate, starting on 1^st January 2013. The candidates chosen in Doha will replace the outgoing director general, Edouard Dayan of France, and the outgoing deputy director general, Guozhong Huang of China. Both are finishing two consecutive terms at the end of 2012.

The UPU’s member countries had until Monday 23 July – two months before the opening of Congress on 24 September – to present candidates to the elected positions.

Election to UPU bodies

Member countries will also elect on 10 October 40 member countries to the UPU’s 2013-2016 Council of Administration (CA). The Council consists of 41 member countries, but the chairmanship automatically goes to Qatar as Congress host. The CA ensures the continuity of the UPU's work between Congresses.

Elections will also be held to select 40 member countries to compose the Postal Operations Council (POC). This Council’s work programme is geared towards helping Posts modernize and upgrade their postal products and services.

The 25^th Universal Postal Congress takes place from 24 September to 15 October 2012. More than 1,500 representatives from the UPU’s 192 member countries are expected at the Doha Congress, hosted by the Government of Qatar in association with its national postal operator, Q-Post. 

Source : news.upu.in