Vladimir Putin Is Keen To See A Russian Lead The International Telecommunication Union

By Berlin and San Francisco

Despite its name, the Palace of Parliament in the centre of Bucharest, Romania’s capital, is no monument to democracy. It was conceived in the 1980s by Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania’s late communist dictator, and built to match the size of his ego. It boasts 365,000 square metres of floor space, much of which stands unused and unheated (Buckingham Palace, in comparison, is downright cosy, spreading across only 77,000).

But the palace will soon play host to an important election. On September 29th, during its quadrennial plenipotentiary conference, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will elect its next secretary-general there. The cold war-era venue is fitting, for the vote pits an American against a Russian amid an atmosphere of mutual suspicion. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the American candidate, is currently one of the itu’s three directors. Rashid Ismailov, her Russian rival, is a telecoms executive who was once the country’s deputy minister of telecoms and mass communications.