UN Security Council Conducts Sixth Straw Poll for Next Secretary-General
The UN Security Council has held its sixth straw poll to assess candidates for the next Secretary-General, with seven contenders remaining.
United Nations, October 17 (Daily Kiran) : The United Nations Security Council has conducted its sixth straw poll to evaluate candidates for the next Secretary-General. Greece’s permanent representative to the UN, Maria Aglietta Balta, announced the completion of the voting process on October 17.
According to reports from Xinhua News Agency, Balta informed journalists that the results would be communicated to the candidates through the permanent representatives of the member countries that nominated them. The President of the UN General Assembly will also be notified about the voting.
The straw poll is an informal voting process held behind closed doors. Its purpose is to gauge which candidate has the most support among the council members. The results of these polls are not officially made public.
Through this process, the Security Council identifies the candidate it will recommend to the General Assembly for appointment as the next Secretary-General. Each member of the Security Council is believed to receive a ballot listing the candidates’ names and three options: support, oppose, or no opinion. To secure the council’s recommendation, a candidate must receive at least nine “support” votes.
Additionally, none of the five permanent members of the Security Council— the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France— can cast an “oppose” vote, as such a vote could block a candidate’s path forward.
Currently, seven candidates remain in the race: former Ecuadorian minister and diplomat Ivonne A-Baki, former President of the UN General Assembly and Ecuador’s former Foreign and Defense Minister María Fernanda Espinosa, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, who is the current Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, former Costa Rican Vice President and current Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebeca Grynspan, Uganda’s Olara Otunnu, a former UN Under-Secretary-General, the permanent representative of Guyana to the UN, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and former Senegalese President Macky Sall.
Antonio Guterres, the current Secretary-General, will conclude his term at the end of this year. His successor is expected to take office on January 1, 2027. In the coming days, the informal votes from the Security Council will clarify which of the seven candidates is viewed as the strongest contender and whose candidacy may gain the council’s consensus.
