No competition in OPCW director general election campaign - Russian envoy

MOSCOW. Oct 8 (Interfax) - The nomination of Fernando Arias, the incumbent director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Technical Secretariat, as the sole candidate in the relevant election fails to ensure competition and infringes on the rights of the vast majority of OPCW member states, Russian Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin said.

"The ongoing campaign of the director general's reelection drastically differs from the practice of the organization. A competition for the post wasn't even formally declared, which, in our opinion, prevented the provision of equal, competitive conditions for all of the convention's participatory states," Shulgin told Interfax on Friday.

"As a result, the incumbent director general, Fernando Arias, is the only candidate to the post," he said.

"Russia has firmly objected to the infringement of the rights of the overwhelming majority of countries," Shulgin said.

"The OPCW's reputation largely depends on the actions of its Technical Secretariat," he said.

"We are convinced that its leader should have an impeccable reputation, staunchly protect the convention, and act in an unbiased manner to the benefit of all OPCW participatory states. Ideally, that's how it should be," Shulgin said.