The Art of Lobbying

Discovering The Art of Lobbying

by Aditya Naganath, Dhirubhai Ambani International School

Delegates looking to make their mark in this year's conference seized the very first opportunity they got – the 'Lobbying' session. As the adage goes, 'first impressions are last impressions' and this is exactly what delegates kept in mind when they sought not only to impress their allies (and their chairs!) but also to intimidate their adversaries. Of course, the most successful delegates did employ some 'sophisticated' MUN techniques, some of which I have taken the liberty to enumerate for you:

• Well Researched: Well prepared delegates like Amy Zheao (Delegate of UK) entered the conference not only with clear objectives but also with enough firepower to bamboozle other delegates who were not as well researched, assimilating them in her bloc in the process.
  
• Laptops! : It has been proven MUNtifically that delegates tend to crowd around the person who wields technology. Fernando Zanardi (Delegates of Antigua and Bermuda) seemed to have cracked the system as he watched others swarm around him, each dictating their own preambs and operatives. When the dust has settled, the credit goes to him. Those clauses did come from his laptop after all.
  
• Eloquence Worked: Nikhil Lalvani (Delegate of Peru) was extremely fluent and glib when communicating with other delegates. He evidently knew that eloquence always creates the notion of intellect, whether or not one has the content backing one up. A majority of the delegates used it as a marketing tool to get recognized. It was observed that delegates were attracted to the eloquent and glib talkers, not the reticent fact spewing robots and rightly so! It's always important to have something to say and to say it well.
  
• Associating with others: Mitchell Norstrom (Delegate of Botswana) realized that even if he doesn't know the delegate next to him, it pays to hang out with him anyway. Nobody likes to be stranded without a bloc/ group after or for that matter, during lobbying. Norstrom, like many other delegates, was attracted to those whom he felt knew others as everyone seeks to be a part of some sort of circle. It was also amusing to see delegates who had no real stand on an issue, approached by a couple of other people; the numbers game does have a profound psychological impact on a delegate's decisions.
  
• Some Schmoozed: "I'll give you chocolate if you recognize me" – these unforgettable words to the General Assembly 2 Chair Rabia Majeed, clearly explicate the kind of under hand tactics certain delegates employed during the lobbying session. That said, softening the chair up a bit can grant certain privileges: an extra minute to speak, your overly aggressive behavior overlooked from time to time etc. The accumulation of these minutiae may actually reap rich rewards at the end of the day – like one's resolution being passed for example. It's nice to see that some delegates are meticulously planning for their future.
  

After an extremely fruitful session of lobbying, it will be interesting to see what delegates do next when the real conference begins. With the amount of planning put into the lobbying session, one can only imagine their output during discussion time. It looks like THIMUN XLII will unfold into a very enriching and fulfilling conference.

(On an off note: While I may not be the most experienced delegate, I do know that during lobbying, a delegate must adhere to his country's stand rather than act on his emotions. As a reporter, it was surprising to see delegates representing conflicting countries work together in the lobbying session purely because they wanted to form a bloc, knew that person or needed to be authors of resolutions. A baffled chair recounted how she was once presented with a resolution co – submitted by Russia and the USA! Talk about irony! To some of the aspiring and relatively inexperienced delegates out there, it is imperative to stick to one's stand not only because one is 'representing' that country but also to preserve the reality of a Model United Nations that gives it its name.)