Uruguayan candidate withdraws from WTO leadership race
Carlos Perez del Castillo of Uruguay said today he was withdrawing from the race to lead the World Trade Organisation, leaving Pascal Lamy of France poised to become the new director-general.
“I would like to congratulate Pascal Lamy and to wish him the best of luck in his job ahead,” Perez del Castillo said.
“I accept the result,” he said. “I have requested my government to withdraw my candidacy.”
He said he had learned from Guillermo Valles Galmez, the Uruguayan ambassador to the Geneva-based WTO, that Lamy had the strongest support among the 148 members of the body that supervises global trade.
Valles Galmez had just met Kenyan Ambassador Amina C. Mohamed to learn the results of the polling she has been conducting as head of a three-member panel at the centre of the selection process.
Lamy could not be reached immediately because he was in the Caribbean.
