A couple of weeks ago, Ms Helen Clark’s bid for the position of United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) came to an end. There were many eyebrows raised at the straw polls’ results whilst some were baffled by this outcome. On the other hand, one analyst said Ms Clark didn’t even have a chance at all.

There was a mention of stadium with four million people whilst UN staff preference too was highlighted by one media organisation especially when staff was nowhere near being a stakeholder in this process. I didn’t know a “stadium” with four million people could vote in this process!

To me personally, Ms Clark’s UNSG bid was nothing more than a drummed up campaign still living in the nostalgic realm of Mr David Lange’s time when New Zealand carved out a unique position for itself in the global geopolitical arena.

Columnist Audrey Young gave her own top 10 reasons why Ms Clark lost the bid while indicating there were many more: rather more important ones. Among the many more that she didn’t mention could have been the current state of affairs and relation with countries in South Pacific particularly. Another could be the departure from the legacy of Mr David Lange. Consolidated position as an eye of the five eyes could be another one and the list goes on.