Sri Lanka, March 18 -- The United Nations has continued to pursue a notoriously longstanding tradition of doling out some of the highest-ranking jobs either to the five big powers, who are permanent members of the Security Council-namely the US, UK, China, France and Russia - or to Western industrialized nations such as Spain, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Germany, plus Japan.

As a result, the world's developing countries, comprising over two-thirds of the 193 UN member states, have been complaining they are not being adequately represented in the higher echelons of the world body -- despite competent candidates with strong professional and academic qualifications vying for these jobs.

The 134-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition o...