Why Guterres is perfect for UN Secretary General post

Last week, the UN Security Council – the UN’s most powerful body – chose Antonio Guterres, the former Prime Minister of Portugal, as UN Secretary General designate. Mr Guterres, who until 2015 was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, beat one of the most impressive and deepest fields of candidates for the world’s top diplomat. Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres will arrive at the Secretary General’s desk in January with arguably the most accomplished resume of any occupant of the lofty office. But he inherits a job that has been made nearly impossible by the collapse of any discernible world order. Gone are the days when geopolitical schisms – and flashpoints – were predictable. The world is today one giant cesspool of uncertainty.

Let me tell you why the selection of Guterres really matters for the UN and the world at this juncture. First, the man brings a set of skills and intellectual gifts that are rare at that level of global governance. A former academic, Guterres graduated high school as the best student in Portugal. He cut his political teeth as a member – and later a leader – of the Socialist Party which was involved in ending Marcelo Caetono’s dictatorship in 1974. That revolution brought democracy to Portugal and ended the Portuguese Empire. The liberation of Portugal’s African colonies was bound up with that revolution. In 1995, the Socialist Party won elections and Mr. Guterres became Prime Minister. Political parties in Europe, unlike their Kenyan counterparts, are largely driven by ideology. That’s why the fact that Guterres belonged to the Socialist Party – a dying species in a Europe that’s headed to the right – speaks volumes about the man. He was an immensely popular first term PM because he and the Socialist Party restructured the Portuguese economy to make it responsive to working and middle class families. He led an economic boom that reduced deficits and expanded social programs for the poor. In particular, he introduced cash transfer schemes – welfare programmes – that reduced the privation of the poor and the working poor. He gave economic meaning to people. He brought Portugal back to international respectability.