The diplomatic marathon to choose the next Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) has entered its decisive phase. In the first unofficial test vote held behind closed doors (the so-called straw poll), organized by the 15-member Security Council, former Vice President of Costa Rica Rebecca Greenspan established herself as an early favorite in the race, world agencies report (source: reuters.com).
The results of the secret ballot
In the anonymous indicative vote, all 15 member states of the Security Council had the right to vote, evaluating the candidates with three possible options: „encourage“ (encourage), “not encourage“ (discourage) or “no opinion“ (no opinion).
According to diplomatic sources cited by leading media (source: aljazeera.com), the top positions are distributed as follows:
- Rebecca Greenspan (Costa Rica): 10 votes “I encourage“.
- Caroline Rodriguez-Birkett (Guyana): 9 votes “I encourage“.
- Rafael Grossi (Argentina): 7 votes “I encourage“ – a surprising third place finish for the current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A total of seven official candidates – four women and three men – are vying to succeed Portuguese diplomat António Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on December 31, 2026 (source: en.wikipedia.org). The other contenders on the list are former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former Senegalese President Macky Sall and Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu.
The path to the final choice and the right of veto
The current President of the Security Council and Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Ambassador Zenon Mukongo Ngai, confirmed to reporters that the vote had taken place, but stressed that the specific figures remained confidential to the general public to avoid speculation. The results are communicated directly and only to the permanent representatives of the countries that nominated the respective candidates (source: english.news.cn).
International relations experts recall that the procedure has specific rules and that the selection will not be quick (source: thenationalnews.com):
- The 9-vote rule: To be officially recommended to the UN General Assembly, a candidate needs at least 9 affirmative votes from the 15 members of the Council.
- The Veto Barrier: The candidate must not receive a single vote “I do not encourage“ from the five permanent members (USA, Russia, China, UK and France).
- Colored ballots: In the next rounds of voting, the five major powers will use colored ballots. They will make it clear whether any of the candidates has received a hidden veto, which would practically end their participation in the race.
Pressure for historical change: A woman from Latin America?
In the wings of the UN, there is strong pressure from a number of member states for two key changes in the organization's history. On the one hand, the World Organization has never before been headed by a woman. On the other hand, according to the unofficial principle of geographical rotation, it is now the turn of the Latin American and Caribbean region to send its leader (source: bta.bg). The fact that Greenspan and Rodriguez-Birkett are leading the rankings after the first poll strengthens expectations that these criteria will be met.
The next rounds of secret ballots are expected to be held in mid-to-late August under the Danish presidency, with the final selection and vote in the UN General Assembly to be completed between September and December 2026 (source: passblue.com).