Eight candidates, including Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, and UAE Minister Lana Nusseibeh, are competing without a clear frontrunner to succeed Antonio Guterres on December 31. The process relies on informal straw polls where council members vote to encourage, discourage, or offer no opinion on each contender. Securing the post requires at least nine favorable votes and zero vetoes from Britain, China, France, Russia, or the United States. Although civil society groups continue to demand greater transparency, the council maintains strict confidentiality to shield future diplomatic ties.
Key points
A nominee needs at least nine council votes without a single veto from the five permanent…: A nominee needs at least nine council votes without a single veto from the five permanent members.
The United Nations General Assembly has historically never rejected a nominee recommended…: The United Nations General Assembly has historically never rejected a nominee recommended by the Security Council.
The Security Council preserves vote confidentiality to protect diplomatic relationships b…: The Security Council preserves vote confidentiality to protect diplomatic relationships between member nations and the eventual appointee.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
With no frontrunner for the job, eight candidates are vying for the UN Security Council’s recommendation.
Secret votes, coloured ballot papers, straw polls and backroom efforts to force a consensus — with the threat of powerful vetoes hanging over it all. These could be the contours of how boards of mubil-billion dollar corporations decide on contentious issues.
It’s also the way the United Nations picks its secretary-general, the person at the apex of a vast and sprawling machinery tasked with upholding fast-fraying international laws and practices.
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That process is now barrelling towards a tense climax, with the UN Security Council holding multiple straw polls in a bid to select its new secretary-general by December 31, when incumbent Antonio Guterres must step down.
Eight candidates are in the fray — from Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan,…
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