The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 247
231 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN Nations, whether I could still claim to be the leader of my delegation, and I maintained I could. They said, "True, you are a member of your delegation, but you can't be treated as a leader of your delegation while you are President. " I said, "Surely, I am still leader of my delegation. " I showed them the rule which says that the President shall not vote but shall appoint a member of his delegation to vote in his place, which clearly implies that while President, he continues leader of his delegation. I held the two offices together, and so there was no interruption on one side and then resumption on the other; though, of course, there is the descent from the podium, not to go back to the room behind the podium, but to take one's seat where the chief of protocol formally conducts you after the next President has been elected and you take your seat in the hall. The year of the Presidency has helped me a lot in personal relations and otherwise. The goodwill continues; the friendships won are there; some of them are, I hope for life, and others have been deepened. The total experience becomes a part of one's personality. Question : Well, my only point in making that is that you are now leaving the UN for the International Court of Justice to take up another very important official role in the international community and the point was only one of academic interest and not practical interest. You did allude to one point, which I don't know whether you want to talk about it in detail, and that is the cost to be borne by the state and by the delegate when he is chosen President of the General Assembly. Do you want to talk about orders of magnitude ? Zafrulla : No, I do not want to. I do not think that is important. But the President has to carry on a great deal more hospitality than he would as merely a member of a delegation or even head of a delegation. Provision has to be made for that. I do not know what happens with other delegations but in my case my government helped. I knew that I would have to do a little more on my own, but how much should be done and at what level and at what cost is an individual matter. There is a certain amount of official hospitality. For instance, the President has what is known as a Chairmen's lunch every Wednesday, when chairmen of committees meet the President and the Secretariat officers who are working with them to consult on planning the session