With a deadlock in voting for a new United Nations Secretary General, there is a view among some experts that other candidates may now enter the race.
Yesterday’s third straw poll showed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan as the narrow frontrunner in the contest to become the 10th UN secretary-general, slightly ahead of Guyana’s UN Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
Grynspan led in the first poll and Rodrigues-Birkett edged ahead in the second.
Richard Gowan, director of global issues and institutions at the International Crisis Group, told Reuters that neither Grynspan nor Rodrigues-Birkett seem to be able to make a decisive breakthrough and “it is time for some the weaker candidates to bow out of the race.”
“I think these figures may encourage any additional candidates who are waiting in the wings to jump into the race quite soon,” said Gowan.
International Crisis Group’s Daniel Forti told AFP it was thought there would be another straw poll at the end of the UN’s signature high-level week due to get underway on Tuesday.
Eight candidates are vying to succeed Antonio Guterres, who steps down at the end of this year after two five-year terms. It is still possible for more candidates to enter the race.
AFP said that several countries on the 15-member Council have declared their desire for the embattled UN to have its first ever woman leader when Guterres concludes his term at the end of December.
Ultimately the five Security Council veto powers – the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain – need to agree on a candidate. When Guterres was chosen in 2016, it took six straw polls for the Security Council to reach agreement, Reuters said.
In the Security Council straw polls, which are expected to continue for several more rounds, Security Council members are asked on secret ballots if they “encourage,” “discourage” or have “no opinion” on candidates.
Grynspan received nine encourage, five discourage and one no opinion and Rodrigues Birkett received eight encourage, six discourage and one no opinion.
Uganda’s Olara Otunnu, a diplomat and former U.N. under-secretary-general, received five encourage, seven discourage and three no opinion; Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, received five encourage, eight discourage and two no opinion; while Senegal’s former president Macky Sall received five encourage, nine discourage and one no opinion.
Maria Fernanda Espinosa, a former Ecuadorean foreign and defence minister and former president of the UN General Assembly, received three encourage, six discourage and six no opinion; Michelle Bachelet, a two-time president of Chile and a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, received one encourage, 11 discourage and three no opinion; while Ivonne Baki, an Ecuadorean diplomat, received zero encourage, 10 discourage and five no opinion, Reuters reported.
At yesterday’s straw poll, there was no difference between the ballots used by the five permanent members (P5) and the ten elected members (E10). Council members receive one ballot per candidate, containing the candidate’s name followed by three options: “encouraged”, “discouraged”, and “no opinion expressed”.
In later rounds of voting the P5 will have a different ballot paper and any vote by them against a candidate will end the race for that person.
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