Shashi Tharoor uncertain about his future in UN

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22: United Nations Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor today said his future in the UN would be decided next month, noting that it was for the new Secretary -General to decide about his advisers.

''A decision on my continuation in the present post will be taken in a few weeks time after discussions with the Secretary- General,'' he told a meet-the-press programme organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Press club.

Noting that he had contested for the UN Secretary General post only because of devotion for the UN, Mr Tharoor said he would support Mr Ban Ki-Moon, the new Secretary -General.

On UN's involvement in Sri Lanka, he said the UN did not think of becoming a mediator as Norwegian mediators were already playing the role.

''Two mediators are not needed and the UN does not want to cross the line,'' he said.

Asked if the UN would have a Woman Secretary General in the near future, he said ''the UN had representations from all the continents.

Usually a Secretary General gets two terms and now we must wait for another ten years for a woman Secretary General. It is Europe's turn next time and they have to decide whether to have a woman in the Secretary General post.'' Stating that he would be writing a fiction based on life in Kerala, Mr Tharoor said three years ago he had started working on one and because of his preoccupations could not complete it.

''I was so busy and did not get the time to pick up the threads.

Now I have to rethink and reinvent it again,'' he said.

About his experiences in Kerala, he said '' as far as Kerala is concerned, I come here only for a few days on a vacation, for a month or a few days.'' ''I have seen the economic, cultural and social development.

Earlier when I used to visit my 'tharavadu' (ancestral home), there was no electricity, pipe lines and TV. Moreover, the lower caste people were not allowed to enter the house and were used to being served food outside. But today it has changed. This is the social transformation that I have seen in Kerala.'' Regarding Freedom of Expression, Mr Tharoor said he valued the Freedom of Expression the most and added that development of a society was not possible without this freedom.

UNI