THE PRESIDENT, Mrs Robinson, is seen as the front runner to succeed Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary-General of the UN following confirmation of a US veto on his reappointment.
But while President Clinton and senior US officials are said to favour Mrs Robinson, the influential non-aligned/Third World bloc would almost certainly try to veto anyone too identified as the US-backed candidate.
This bloc is estimated to have about 130 votes out of the 185 in the UN General Assembly which must approve any candidate put forward by the Security Council.
Yesterday, the White House spokesman, Mr Mike McCurry, said there was "no possibility" of Dr Boutros-Ghali getting a second term when the present one expires next December. Asked if that meant using the US veto in the Security Council, he replied "yes".
Speaking from Bonn, Dr Boutros-Ghali, said he hoped that the US would "change their minds".
A State Department spokesman, Mr Nicholas Burns, said yesterday that "after careful consideration, President Clinton and the Secretary of State have decided new leadership is needed in the United Nations".
Mr Burns added that the search was on for a successor but that the US had no candidate. He pointed out that "several public figures" were available and should be considered without restricting a choice to Africa or any other specific area.
"We need, all of us, internationally, to identify someone capable of reforming the UN bureaucracy, increasing its cost-effectiveness, reducing the budget and streamlining the organisation," Mr Burns said.
The State Department is said to believe that, realistically, Mrs Robinson's chances of succeeding Dr Boutros-Ghali are not great even if she has the unofficial back ing of President Clinton and his ambassador to the UN Ms Madeleine Albright.
It has been confirmed that the Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, had been negotiating since last March to extend Dr Boutros-Ghali's term by one year as a face-saving compromise. But he has rejected this offer and said he wanted a full five year term, although this would mean he would be almost 80 at the end of it.