Fiji ambassador elected UN General Assembly president Featured
Fiji's Ambassador to the UN, Peter Thomson (left), who has been elected president of the UN General Assembly. Photo: Supplied / Fiji Department of Information
14 June, 2016. The Fijian ambassador, Peter Thomson, has been elected the president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Mr Thomson narrowly defeated the Cyrpriot ambassador, Andreas Mavroyiannis, by 94 votes to 90 in a contested election.
He will begin his one-year term in September, when Denmark's Mogens Lykketoft finishes his term.
The post is largely cermonial, though it has a high profile and important procedural functions and Mr Thomson will oversee the process of searching for a new UN secretary-general general.
The role has the focus of a corruption scandal in the United States, and Mr Thomson has pledged to keep pushing for transparency in the President's office.
Mr Thomson is the first assembly president from the Pacific.
RNZI
