• Search For New UN Secretary General Continues

By Shashi P.B.B. Malla

According to most American political analysts, Trump is a dying star. His brand has tanked, and his Republican Party will most probably pay for it in the coming midterm Congressional and Gubernatorial elections on November 3.

The actual fact of the matter was addressed way back in 1982 by the astute political observer, James Carville: “It’s the economy, stupid!”

This political statement has since become famous. The four words contain as much wisdom as possibly 400 words of explanation from a political scientist to describe the present malaise of the U.S. economy in particular and the world economy in general:

“When family budgets feel tight, voters often go shopping for a new party to run things” Kristen Soltis Anderson: “Trump’s brand has tanked,” The New York Times, Oct. 3-with a significant advantage on 4).

Arguably pocket book issues led Donald Trump back to the White House for a second term.

Poll after poll in 1924 showed the economy as the top issue and tended to show him with a significant advantage on who was more trusted to handle the problem.

Today, Donald Trump and the Republicans have not only lost that advantage; They are underwater on the cost-of-living issue by an 8-point margin, according to the pollster Anderson.

And this year a second issue has been rising in the polling, ranking below the cost of living but ahead of other concerns.

It’s not just the economy: ”It’s corruption, too.”

 working for them, they overwhelmingly it’s being rigged more and more in favour of a precious few who are cozied up to the nation’s leaders.

The combination of these two worries is putting Trump and Republicans in a terrible position on the eve of a major election.

It Is also eating away at the winning brand that Trump cultivated over-go many years.

When Gallup asked Republicans back in 2026 what made trump so appealing, one in six alluded to his experience as a businessman.

This was the product of his years in the public eye as a real estate mogul and as the star of the reality show “The Apprentice” (Anderson).

The top response was that Trump was an outsider – not corrupted by the power and money of Washington.

A decade ago that branding was understandable: He had never held elected office and was quite obviously not beloved by the Republican/G.O.P. establishment.

He has now taken over the Party and is the establishment.

Now, it feels as if it’s going to be the top class or the current ‘friends’ that are getting the benefit of the economy, not the general folks.

Trump is always harping about how well the U.S. is functioning – but for his friends and coterie, not the general public.

Does he not realize that he is fooling most of the people, most of the time, or is he plain stupid, or puffed up with his supposed intelligence?

In Anderson’s own polling, nearly two-thirds of voters say “most politicians are corrupt or just looking out for their own interest.”

Trump himself was particularly fond of comparing the then Washington to an infested swamp that needed to be drained.

Now Trump’s Washington has become so terrible and corrupted that bears no comparison to the past.

Anderson writes that for years, Trump got a lot of mileage out of his supporters thinking him as a singular figure – a tycoon who put his glitzy life on hold in order to fix a broken Washington.

Today, they see headlines about bitcoin scams, inexplicable pardons for criminals and the enormous wealth that the president’s family and close associates are accumulating.

It is as if everything they touch must turn to gold.

[It is like the Nepal before the Gen Z revolt.]

Many Americans have begun to think differently about Trump & Family & Friends – like a Mafia conglomerate only out to make money whatever the cost to the country at large and its citizens!

Trump & Co. is not even trying to improve conditions.

Trump has left the impression that he has done a lot to secure the southern border and harass immigrants and asylum-seekers (especially the dark-skinned ones), but precious little on fixing the economy.

A majority of Republicans think that Trump is not concentrating on essentials, like the cost of living.

And many Republicans that now don’t believe in Trump any more would not vote for Democrats, but at the same time, may not bother to cast their votes at all.

Trump and the Republicans are now betting on a two-pronged strategy before the midterms – to bring out the Republican vote and suppress the Democratic one.

New UN Secretary General Still Not Clear

Turkish officials have begun to shop around the idea of a former Turkish foreign minister joining the list of candidates to lead the United Nations.

The months long race for Secretary General continues with no clear victor.

Feridun Sinirioglu, a 70-year-old former Turkish foreign minister and UN diplomat, floated his candidacy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s high-level meeting in New York last week.

Sinirlioglu currently serves as the secretary-general of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The OSCE, whose 57 members include the United States and both Ukraine and Russia, was created during the Cold War as a platform for dialogue Between East and West.

The organization –like the UN – has a wide-ranging mandate, including conflict prevention, human rights, election observation and arms control.

Lately, the OSCE has been more of a talking shop.

The selection of the UN Secretary General will be largely left to the 15-nation UN Security Council, especially its five veto-wielding permanent members – the United States, Russia, China, the U.K. and France – which remain tight-lipped about their preferences.

The 193-member General Assembly must give final approval.

[The veto power of the permanent members has been a drag on the entire organization and should be abolished. The UN Secretary General should be proposed by a two-thirds majority of UNGA and approved by the same majority in the UNSC. As in everything, the so-called great powers are hugging the limelight and have usurped the legitimate rights of a majority of the countries of the world.

The U.K. and France are not even ‘great powers’ anymore!]

The writer can be reached at: shashimalla125@gmail.com