The New York Times (NYT) yesterday reported that the United States has indicated that it would veto the candidacy of Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett for UN Secretary General over her description of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza as “genocide”.
In its examination of the race for the Secretary General, the NYT said that Washington had also indicated it would block former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet – who dropped out of the race last week – over her positions on abortion.
“It also opposes Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s ambassador to the U.N., for calling Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide”, the NYT said.
Any veto by one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the US, China, Russia, Britain and France – would end the race for the contenders. Three straw polls have been held and the five permanent members have not yet had to show whether they would veto any of the candidates.
The NYT also said that Russia has indicated that it will veto one candidate, Rafael Grossi, the leader of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog, because it was not pleased with how he had handled the standoff between Russia and Ukraine over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
No clear frontrunner has yet emerged in the three straw polls that have been held. Former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan led in two of them with Rodrigues-Birkett in second place and Rodrigues-Birkett led in one with Grynspan behind her.
So far, no clear front-runner has emerged, according to diplomats and leaked results of three secret straw polls held by the Security Council. The NYT reported that Daniel Forti, the head of U.N. affairs at the International Crisis Group said more contenders were likely to join the race or drop out ahead of the Council’s final recommendation.
In previous selections of the secretary general, by this time at least one or two front-runners had emerged, diplomats say, according to the NYT. The results of the straw polls have been so inconclusive that, for the first time, Forti said, diplomats and U.N. officials are openly wondering what will happen if the Council does not settle on a candidate.
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