GENEVA, Sept. 17 Reuters - The World Health Organization chief looks set to run for a second term at the helm, sources said. He tries to guide the world through its biggest health crisis in a century.
However, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lacks the support of his native Ethiopia due to friction over the Tigray conflict, the sources told Reuters.
How he will be nominated before the deadline for nominations next week is unclear amid opposition from the Addis Ababa government, they said.
An African former health minister from the Tigray region, Tedros became WHO's first African Director-General in 2017.
He has steered the agency through several Ebola outbreaks as well as the COVID 19 pandemic, surviving severe criticism from the Trump administration for allegedly being China-centric While he has not publicly acknowledged his plans to run again for a second five-year term, saying he focused on fighting the pandemic, four sources said he is the only known candidate.
They declined to be named due to confidentiality of the process.
Tedros is a candidate, said one source with direct knowledge of the election process, adding that at this stage there was no alternative candidate at this stage.
However, he - whom an Ethiopian general accused of being a criminal and publicly accused of trying to procure weapons for Tigrayan forces - is not expected by his government as is the diplomatic custom, two senior Ethiopian officials told Reuters.
Billene Seyoum, the prime minister's spokeswoman, and Dina Mufti, spokesperson for the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry, did not respond to requests for comment.
Tedros has described the situation in Tigray as horrendous and regularly tweets about developments there, but denies taking sides in the conflict.
Consultations are underway among African countries on who will propose his candidacy before the 23rd Sept. deadline, two sources said.
The process of formal submissions is confidential and it was not possible to determine whether a formal submission for Tedros had already been made
The WHO did not respond to a request for comment. Its rules do not specify that a candidate must be proposed by his or her own country only that the submission must be done by one of its 194 member states.
The formal appointment is scheduled for May 2022 at the world health assembly.
Why does Ethiopia criticize Tedros? Africa's second most populous nation is a commercial heavyweight and hosts the African Union Headquarters. Its military provides peacekeeper in Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan.
Its sway over the African Union means Tedros is unlikely to have the institution's united backing, as he did last time, but diplomats say he still enjoys support from some African nations.
Kenya will support his re-nomination, Ishain Lamotzaire, principal secretary in Kenya's foreign ministry, told Reuters.
When asked about who would nominate him, Kamau replied: I think there will be a group of countries. Uganda's state minister for foreign affairs called Tedros an old friend and Kampala was consulting with other East African governments about his nomination. If we consult our friends and find that all our friends support him then we'll support him, he told Reuters.
Tedros is seen as a voice in a difficult forum arguing passionately for greater access to COVID-19 vaccinations for Africa and against vaccine passports, which many African nations fear would curtail the movement of their citizens who still struggle to access vaccines that are plentiful in the West.
One of the sources following the election said several countries outside Africa would be willing to nominate Tedros, if needed.
In 2016 - 2017, Tedros competed against five other international health experts in WHO elections.
His possible re-election is a test of his agency's handling of pandemic under his leadership, which was fiercely criticised by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
If reappointed, he will oversee the next stage of the investigation into the origins of Coronavirus in China as well as an potential overhaul of the agency amid concerns about its resources and capacity to deal with a global pandemic.
The Trump administration accused Tedros and the WHO of being China-centric - allegations they rejected - and halted U.S. contributions while starting the process to leave the agency.
The Biden administration announced that it would remain a member and fulfill its financial obligations in January after taking office.
These reforms could lead to a big shake-up of the agency. Among the recommendations of an independent panel in May, a new global system should be set up to respond faster to disease outbreaks to help ensure no future virus causes a pandemic as devastating as COVID - 19.