In some exciting news, New Zealand’s next Governor General is going to be a desi, Judge Anand Satyanand [Thanks 3rd Eye]. Satyanand was born and raised in New Zealand (his parents were Indo-Fijians) and last held the job of the Parliament’s ombudsman. I think he’s the first desi Governor General outside of a South Asian country.

Lord of the sheep, a true sepia mutton-ier!

You do realize what this means, don’t you? A desi is (nominally) in charge of the great country of New Zealand. He could veto all their new laws, order the government to dissolve, or command their army to invade Australia! Well, not really, it’s a symbolic position now, but it wasn’t always.

The Governor General is a vestigial organ left over from when the Empire became the Commonwealth. It’s the old Imperial Viceroy job; in India, Mountbatten simply switched titles with Independence. Once upon a time, it was a very powerful position:

Governors-General notionally hold the prerogative powers of the monarch he is representing, and also hold the executive power of the country to which he is assigned. This means that the Governor-General has the power to certify or veto law (Royal Assent), and is also the head of the armed forces in his territory… Because of the Governor-General’s control of the military in the territory, the post was as much a military appointment as a civil one.

The Governor-General may exercise almost all the reserve powers of the Monarch. Except in rare cases, the Governor-General only acts in accordance with constitutional convention and upon the advice of the Prime Minister. A rare and controversial case of a Governor General independently exercising his authority occurred in 1975, when the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, dismissed the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. [Link]

And even though the role is largely ceremonial today, it’s an important symbolic position:

The governor general officiates at state functions such as the opening of the parliament, signs off on laws and appoints judges and commissioned officers in the military. [Link]

The position used to be held by British royalty. Now it is held by a citizen of the state in question, who is selected by the home government:

The convention was gradually established throughout the Commonwealth that the Governor-General (or Governor General) is a citizen of the country concerned, and is appointed on the advice of the government of that country, with no input from the British government. [Link]

As such, it is very significant that the New Zealand government chose a desi man to represent the country as its symbolic head. Interestingly, this is actually part of a trend away from choosing white men to fill the post towards choosing women and minorities, presumably as a gesture of inclusion:

Until the early 1970s the post of governor general was the preserve of members of the British nobility, with the first indigenous Maori New Zealander, Sir Paul Reeves, appointed in the 1980s. [Link]

LAST year Canada appointed its first black governor-general, Haiti-born Michaelle Jean, the third woman in the job, replacing Adrienne Clarkson. Now New Zealand is to get its first governor-general of Asian descent. Ethnic Indian judge Anand Satyanand will replace Silvia Cartwright when her five-year term expires in August. Until now, New Zealand governors-general have been of European or Maori descent and two of the past three have been women. Prime Minister Helen Clark said Satyanand, whose parents migrated to New Zealand from Fiji, had close ties with Asia and the Pacific, Opposition National Party leader Don Brash lauded the appointment and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters added his approval, saying the judge was “well acquainted with the nuances of our evolving nation while respectful of our traditions and mixed heritages”. No one asked where had all the white men gone. [Link]

Diasporic desis represent on the other side of the world!