Rebecca Greenspan of Costa Rica retained the lead in the fifth informal vote of the United Nations Security Council to select the next Secretary-General, which took place on Wednesday, October 7, under Greece’s presidency of the Council.
However, the decline in support for her candidacy and the increase in negative votes indicate that a consensus has not yet been reached among the 15 Council members.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The Houthis attacked airports in Saudi Arabia
According to unofficial results, Greenspan received nine votes in favor and six against, with no abstentions. In the previous vote, on September 29, she had received ten votes in favor, three against, and two abstentions. Although she remains in first place, the increase in negative votes from three to six reflects the difficulties her candidacy continues to face.
In second place was the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi of Argentina, with six votes in favor, seven against, and two abstentions. Grossi fell short of the eight “yes” votes he had secured in the fourth round of voting, but nevertheless retained second place in the new ranking.
Caroline Rodríguez Birquet of Guyana saw a significant drop, receiving five “yes” votes, nine negative, and one abstention, compared to eight positive and six negative votes in the previous round.
Former President of Senegal Macky Sall received five “yes” and ten “no” votes, while Olara Otunnu of Uganda received three “yes” and twelve “no” votes.
María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador received three “yes” votes, nine “no” votes, and three abstentions. Yvonne A-Baki, also from Ecuador, received no affirmative votes, garnering fourteen negative votes and one abstention.
The fifth vote took place during Greece’s presidency of the Security Council in October, with Greece’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aglaia Balta, serving as President of the Council.
The Greek diplomat confirmed the completion of the process, noting that “the fifth round of informal ballots took place” and that each candidate will be informed of their results through the Permanent Mission of the state that submitted their candidacy.
The results are not officially released by the Security Council, in accordance with established practice; however, as in previous rounds, they were leaked after the process was completed.
The fifth vote was conducted using the same procedure as in the previous four rounds, with no distinction made between the votes of the five permanent members of the Security Council and the ten elected members.
Each member is asked to indicate one of three options for each candidate: “encouragement,” “discouragement,” or “no opinion.”
Attention is now turning to the possibility of switching to ballots of different colors(reportedly next week), which will make it possible to determine whether any of the candidates faces opposition from one or more permanent members—namely, the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom.
This distinction is considered crucial, since the Security Council’s recommendation to the General Assembly requires at least nine affirmative votes and no veto by a permanent member.
The significant increase in negative votes for some of the leading candidates, combined with the lack of consensus, has heightened interest in the next moves by Council members.
According to Article 97 of the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
Informal votes are not binding but are intended to gauge the balance of power and explore the possibility of building consensus around a specific candidate.
This year’s process is proceeding at a slower pace compared to that of 2016, when the Security Council adopted Resolution 2311 on October 6, nominating António Guterres for the position of Secretary-General.
Source: CNA
