Latin American Bloc Presses Claim in UN Secretary-General Race
New York: The Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) is pressing for the next UN Secretary-General to come from its region, as the Security Council continues its informal straw polls. The push comes as Rebecca Grynspan, UNCTAD's head and a Costa Rican candidate, holds the lead after the seventh poll.
Grynspan received 11 encourage votes in Friday's round, up two from the previous poll, while her discourage votes fell from five to four. She has finished first in six of the seven rounds so far.
The Council did not disclose whether any permanent member was among those voting against Grynspan. Permanent members hold veto power, and their opposition can prevent a candidate from being recommended. In the sixth round, ballots were colour-coded to show permanent members' votes, but this was not done in the seventh.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Lana Nusseibeh, who entered the race last week, placed fourth in her first straw poll with seven encourage, six discourage and two no-opinion votes.
Rafael Grossi of Argentina, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came second with nine encourage, four discourage and two no-opinion votes. Guyana's former Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodriguez-Birkett was third with eight encourage, six discourage and one no-opinion vote.
In the straw polls, Council members choose between encourage, discourage and no opinion. These are recorded as positive, negative and neutral votes. Greece's Permanent Representative Aglaia Balta, who presided over the Council in October, supervised the voting but did not formally announce the results.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's term ends on December 31, so the timeline for selecting a successor is tight. Balta expressed confidence that the Council would send its recommendation to the General Assembly on time, giving the new Secretary-General adequate time to prepare for the role.
Latvia will hold the Council presidency next month. A candidate must secure at least nine votes in the Council and must not face opposition from any permanent member, which include the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. The General Assembly, with 193 members, formally appoints the Secretary-General and generally accepts the Council's recommendation.
Laura Dupuy Lasserre, Uruguay's Permanent Representative, spoke for the Latin American and Caribbean group on Tuesday outside the Security Council. She said it was time for a national of the region to lead the United Nations, adding that the region had produced qualified and competitive candidates who had passed rigorous public scrutiny.
The group notes that no Secretary-General has come from Latin America and the Caribbean since Javier Perez de Cuellar completed his term in 1991, which is 35 years ago. So far, nine men have held the post in the more than 80-year history of the United Nations, and no woman has done so.
In the polls, the top three candidates have all come from the region except in one round, when Uganda's former Foreign Minister and former UN Under-Secretary-General Olara Otunnu finished third. In Friday's round, Otunnu received four encourage and 11 discourage votes. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ecuador's former Foreign Minister and former President of the UN General Assembly, received two encourage and 10 discourage votes. Ecuador's former US ambassador Yvonne A-Baki received one encourage and 14 discourage votes.