Latin America is leading the race for the post of United Nations Secretary-General, despite an orchestrated and well-funded campaign by the United Arab Emirates to promote its own candidate, Lana Nusseibeh.
The latest informal straw poll conducted by the United Nations Security Council has strengthened the position of Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, who is now the clear frontrunner. Latin America has long been considered the natural contender for the post under the informal principle of regional rotation.
According to the latest straw poll, held on 30 October, Grynspan received 11 votes in favour and four against, marking her strongest result in seven rounds of informal voting. Grynspan, a former Vice-President of Costa Rica and the current head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has consistently remained among the leading candidates. She is followed by Rafael Grossi of Argentina, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who received nine votes in favour.
In third place came Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana, a former foreign minister and Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who received eight votes in favour. Rodrigues-Birkett has also emerged as a serious contender throughout the successive rounds of voting, at one point taking the lead in an earlier poll.
The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly following a recommendation from the Security Council. A candidate needs at least nine votes from the Council’s 15 members and must avoid opposition from any of its five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The latest straw poll did not disclose how the permanent members voted individually, meaning that Grynspan’s lead does not yet guarantee her appointment.
The United Nations is approaching a critical period as it gaces financial pressures and declining political influence. The next Secretary-General will be expected to manage these challenges while maintaining the independence of the organisation and its credibility as an international institution.
Newsroom
Leave a Reply