UN Denies Offering Advisor Position to Shevardnadze

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General denied at a news briefing on April 19 that Georgia’s ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze was offered a position of adviser to the UN Secretary-General.

“I think that was a result of some garbled reporting,” Fred Eckhard told reporters.

The report was triggered by the meeting of UNICEF Deputy Assistant Executive Director Kul Chandra Gautam, who also is an Assistant Secretary-General, with Eduard Shevardnadze in Tbilisi on April 16. Part of the meeting was broadcasted on Tbilisi-based private Imedi television.

Shevardnadze thanked UN official for offering advisor position and said “I am ready to assist both in written and oral forms if necessary.”

“What happened was that someone from UNICEF, the Deputy Assistant Executive Director Kul Gautam, had a meeting with Mr. Shevardnadze on a visit to Tbilisi.  It had nothing to do with the Secretary-General or any possible role for the Secretary-General.  So, as a result of that confusion, the UN Resident Coordinator for Georgia, Lance Clarke, met today [on April 19] with the former President, thanked him for what he might have offered in response to Mr. Kul Gautam’s exploration of a possible role for Mr. Shevardnadze in connection with UNICEF.  But it had no connection with the Secretary-General whatsoever.  And I don’t think the Secretary-General was even aware that this discussion was taking place,” Fred Eckhard said.

After the meeting between Eduard Shevardnadze and UN Resident Coordinator for Georgia Lance Clarke, the UN office in Tbilisi issued a statement, which reads: at the meeting between UNICEF Deputy Assistant Executive Director Kul Gautam and Eduard Shevardnadze, UNICEF official “noted that there could well be situations in which the UN could benefit from the advice of an experienced statesman such as Mr. Shevardnadze.”

“This might best normally take the form of a telephone call or written exchange. It was agreed that Mr. Shevardnadze would be willing to provide such advice.”

Georgia’s ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze was ousted last November as a result of bloodless revolution, after the fraudulent November 2 parliamentary elections. News regarding his possible appointment as UN Secretary-General’s advisor sparked controversy in Georgia.