Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is still the frontrunner to be the next Secretary-General after receiving 11 votes in favour from the 15-member council.
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In the latest ballot the former Slovenian President Danilo Turk dropped to fourth from second while Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, the director-general of UNESCO, took fifth spot.
While some expected that the current centre-right coalition government headed by Boiko Borissov would drop Bokova in favour of a candidate of greater political kinship to the majority of Bulgarians, and also enjoying global respect – meaning, European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva – Borissov bowed to a threat from the socialist splinter party ABC that it would withdraw its support for his government unless Bokova was nominated. “It’s not going to be resolved today”.
She is aiming to improve on those results: eight “encourage” votes, five “discourage” and two “no opinion”.
The results are not announced, but the council president communicates them to the candidates to give them an indication of the level of support in the council.
Before the vote, several council diplomats said that if Guterres had no “discourage” votes in the second round he would nearly certainly be recommended by the council. On the eve of the August 5 poll, Croatia’s former foreign minister, Vesna Pusić, announced that she was withdrawing her candidacy because she felt that she lacked support.
Pusic said in a letter announcing her withdrawal that it “became clear after the first round of voting of the UN Security Council that the selection has not gone in my direction”.
Diplomats said the council aimed to recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for election by October.
A pro-European politician who was outspoken about gender equality and LGBT rights, Pusic picked up 11 “discourage” votes, two “encourage” and two “no opinion”. “Meanwhile, UN sources say Russian Federation is angling for a female Bulgarian diplomat with family ties to the Soviet Union (Bokova), a nod to its desire to see an Eastern European in the job”.
Churkin said it was a “priority” for Russian Federation to support a candidate from eastern Europe, but acknowledged that there were “good candidates as well from other regions”. She had come came last in the first ballot.
Of the 11 candidates, seven are from eastern Europe.
UN secretary-general candidate AntonioGuterresof Portugal attends the “globally televised” debate at the UN headquarters in NY, the United States, July 12, 2016.
At its first session in 1946, the Assembly approved a resolution determining that the Council take the lead in the selection process, agree on a single name in a private meeting, and pass that name down to the Assembly for a vote.
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Malcorra is Argentina’s Foreign Minister and was chief of staff to current Secretary General Ban ki Moon.
