United Nations Secretary-General selection, 2016

United Nations Secretary-General election, 2016
United Nations
21 July – 13 October 2016
 
Nominee António Guterres Vuk Jeremić Miroslav Lajčák
Country  Portugal  Serbia  Slovakia
UNSC final 'Encourage' votes[1]
13 / 15
7 / 15
7 / 15
GA vote[2] Acclamation None None
 
Nominee Irina Bokova Helen Clark Susana Malcorra
Country  Bulgaria  New Zealand  Argentina
UNSC final 'Encourage' votes[1]
7 / 15
6 / 15
5 / 15
GA vote[2] None None None

Results of all straw polls
Secretary General before election

Ban Ki-Moon

 Elected Secretary General

António Guterres
(presumptive)

An indirect Secretary-General election was held in October 2016 to choose the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, who will succeed Ban Ki-moon on 1 January 2017. Candidates from the five permanent members of the Security Council were not considered for the role.[3] In a series of straw polls in the Security Council, António Guterres of Portugal emerged as the presumptive nominee, having 13 'encourage' votes, 2 abstentions and no 'discourage' vote in the sixth round on 5 October.[1] On 6 October, the Security Council recommended Guterres to the General Assembly,[4] which formally selected him by acclamation on 13 October.[2]

Most other nominees receiving support were Eastern Europeans. The Eastern European Group is the only one of the UN Regional Groups not to have been represented in the office.

Background

Few rules govern the selection of the Secretary-General. The only guiding text, Article 97 of the United Nations Charter, states "The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council". As a result, the selection is subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council.[5] In 1946, the General Assembly adopted a resolution stating it was "desirable for the Security Council to proffer one candidate only for the consideration of the General Assembly, and for debate on the nomination in the General Assembly to be avoided."[6]

The Charter's minimal language has since been supplemented by other procedural rules and accepted practices. Traditionally, candidates from the Permanent Five members of the Security Council (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and United States) are not considered for the position of Secretary-General to avoid further concentration of power within the United Nations. This is a matter of precedent and convention, rather than a written rule.[3]

While former officeholders represent a wide range of countries, there has never been a female Secretary-General.[7] There were numerous female candidates in 2016, including several from outside Eastern Europe.[8] In December 2015 the UN general assembly and president of the security council, US ambassador Samantha Power wrote a joint letter to all member states encouraging them to nominate female candidates as well as men.[9] Equality Now launched a campaign to elect a female Secretary-General with the title "Time for a Woman: United Nations—it’s been over 70 years, elect a female Secretary-General"[10]

Because of the informal regional rotation scheme, many commentators speculated that the next UN Secretary-General would come from the Eastern European Group, as that region has never produced a Secretary-General. However, tension between Russia and Western permanent members over the conflict in Ukraine raised the possibility of deadlock over an Eastern European nominee, meaning that candidates from other regions (particularly non-European members of the Western European and Others Group and Latin America) were seriously considered.[11]

The absence of a formal campaign has, as in past years, led to much speculation as to potential candidates, only a few of whom have actually been endorsed by their national governments. There has been growing criticism of the opacity of the process, with increased calls by NGOs such as the 1 for 7 Billion campaign and The Elders, as well as some states, for a more formal selection and appointment process in which candidates engage in a more public discussion of their views and platforms. Writing in Singapore's Straits Times, Simon Chesterman has argued that, for an organisation as important as the United Nations, "having its leader chosen by the lowest common denominator of what the P5 finds acceptable is not good enough".[12]

Reform

The Security Council and General Assembly took steps to make the selection process more transparent and open in 2016 and sent a letter to member states asking them to nominate candidates for the position.[13] In practice, previous secretaries-general were chosen behind closed doors by the Security Council and then had their names submitted to General Assembly for ratification. No candidate has ever been rejected by the General Assembly.[14]

Seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft advocated that the General Assembly select a candidate and held public meetings from 12–14 April 2016 where assembly members questioned candidates.[15][16] Lykketoft had advocated for the General Assembly to select a candidate and in December 2015, had sent out a joint letter soliciting candidates from member countries, with replies due by end of July 2016.[17] Additionally, members states and social society were given the opportunity to ask questions to each candidate in televised audiences.[18]

Candidates

At the time of the final straw poll on 5 October 2016, there were ten candidates for the post. Portugal's former Prime Minister and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres led in all six straw polls. Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Vesna Pusić withdrew on 4 August after the first straw poll, in which she came in last position with 11 "discourage" votes, followed by the withdrawal of Montenegro's Foreign Affairs Minister Igor Lukšić on 24 August and the withdrawal of Christiana Figueres on 12 September. Kristalina Georgieva entered the race on 28 September; although the Prime Minister of Bulgaria nominated Kristalina Georgieva as its new sole candidate for the Secretary-General's position, the decision to withdraw from the race can only be done by the candidates; therefore, Irina Bokova decided to continue in the race, leaving Bulgaria with two candidates.[19][20]

Official candidates

Official candidates[16]
Image Name Prior experience Nominator Nominated Regional group Endorsements
Bokova, IrinaIrina Bokova Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria (1996–1997)
Director-General of UNESCO (2009–present)		  Bulgaria

(Support withdrawn[19])

 11 February 2016 Eastern European Group (EEG)
Clark, HelenHelen Clark Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999–2008)
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (2009–present)		  New Zealand 5 April 2016 Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Kristalina Georgieva European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response (2010–2014)
European Commissioner for the Budget and Human Resources (2014–present)		  Bulgaria 28 September 2016 Eastern European Group (EEG)
Gherman, NataliaNatalia Gherman Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova (2013–2016)
Acting Prime Minister of Moldova (2015)		  Moldova 19 February 2016 Eastern European Group (EEG)
Guterres, AntónioAntónio Guterres Prime Minister of Portugal (1995–2002)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2005–2015)		  Portugal 29 February 2016 Western European and Others Group (WEOG)  Cape Verde[21][22]
 Angola[23]
 France[24]
 East Timor[25]
Jeremić, VukVuk Jeremić Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia (2007–2012)
President of the United Nations General Assembly (2012–2013)		  Serbia 12 April 2016 Eastern European Group (EEG)
Kerim, SrgjanSrgjan Kerim Minister of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia (2000–2001)
President of the United Nations General Assembly (2007–2008)		  Macedonia 30 December 2015 Eastern European Group (EEG)
Lajčák, MiroslavMiroslav Lajčák High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007–2009)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia (2009–2010; 2012–present)		  Slovakia 25 May 2016 Eastern European Group (EEG)
Malcorra, SusanaSusana Malcorra Undersecretary General of the United Nations for Field Support (2008–2012)
Chef de Cabinet of the United Nations Secretariat (2012–2015)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina (2015–present)		  Argentina 23 May 2016 Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Türk, DaniloDanilo Türk Slovenian Ambassador to the United Nations (1991–2000)
Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations for Political Affairs (2000–2005)
President of Slovenia (2007–2012)		  Slovenia 9 February 2016 Eastern European Group (EEG)

Withdrawn candidates

Withdrawn candidates
Image Name Prior experience Nominator Nominated Withdrawn Regional group
Pusić, VesnaVesna Pusić Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia (2011–2016)  Croatia 14 January 2016 4 August 2016[26][27] Eastern European Group (EEG)
Lukšić, IgorIgor Lukšić Prime Minister of Montenegro (2010–2012)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro (2012–present)		  Montenegro 15 January 2016 23 August 2016[28][29] Eastern European Group (EEG)
Figueres, ChristianaChristiana Figueres Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2010–2016)  Costa Rica 7 July 2016 12 September 2016[30][31] Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

Candidates who clearly expressed their intention to run

In July 2016, it was revealed that former Labor Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd asked the Government of Australia (then a government of the Liberal/National Coalition) to nominate him for Secretary-General in April 2016.[32][33][34] At its meeting on 28 July, the Cabinet was divided on his suitability for the role and, on that basis, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull decided to decline the request the next day; since nomination by the Australian government was considered a necessary prerequisite for candidacy, Turnbull's decision essentially ended Rudd's campaign;[35] Rudd later confirmed as much.[36][37][38]

Potential candidates named in the press and elsewhere

Eastern European Group

Latin American and Caribbean Group

Western European and Others Group

Security Council straw polls

Graph showing the performance of each candidate across all straw polls
Results of all straw polls per candidate

The Security Council held a total of 6 informal closed-door straw polls where members of the Council were asked to indicate whether they "encouraged", "discouraged" or had "no opinion" regarding the candidates.[46][47] The initial five straw polls took place on 21 July, 5 August, 29 August, 9 September, and 26 September.[48][49] During the sixth straw poll, the five permanent members of the Security Council voted using color coded ballots to indicate the likelihood of a veto; as António Guterres did not receive any discouraged vote from a permanent member and exceeded the necessary encouraged vote of nine members, Guterres was declared by the Security Council as the "clear favourite".[50] The next day, the Security Council formally adopted, by acclamation, the resolution recommending Guterres to be the next Secretary-General for a term of office from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.[51]

United Nations Secretary-General selection straw poll results
Candidate 21 July[52][53] 5 August[54][55] 29 August[56][57] 9 September[58][59] 26 September[59][60] 5 October[1][61] Final Vote[51][62]
E D N E D N E D N E D N E D N E D N
Bulgaria Irina Bokova 9 4 2 7 7 1 7 5 3 7 5 3 6 7 2 7 (3P) 7 (2P) 1 Withdrawn
New Zealand Helen Clark 8 5 2 6 8 1 6 8 1 6 7 2 6 9 0 6 (1P) 8 (3P) 1 (1P) Withdrawn
Costa Rica Christiana Figueres 5 5 5 5 8 2 2 12 1 5 10 0 Withdrawn[63]
Bulgaria Kristalina Georgieva Not yet nominated 5 (2P) 8 (2P) 2 (1P) Withdrawn
Moldova Natalia Gherman 4 4 7 3 10 2 2 12 1 3 11 1 3 11 1 3 (1P) 11 (3P) 1 (1P) Withdrawn
Portugal António Guterres 12 0 3 11 2 2 11 3 1 12 2 1 12 2 1 13 (4P) 0 2 (1P) Acclaimed
Serbia Vuk Jeremić 9 5 1 8 4 3 7 5 3 9 4 2 8 6 1 7 (2P) 6 (3P) 2 Withdrawn
Republic of Macedonia Srgjan Kerim 9 5 1 6 7 2 6 7 2 8 7 0 6 9 0 5 (2P) 9 (3P) 1 Withdrawn
Slovakia Miroslav Lajčák 7 3 5 2 6 7 9 5 1 10 4 1 8 7 0 7 (2P) 6 (2P) 2 (1P) Withdrawn
Montenegro Igor Lukšić 3 7 5 2 9 4 Withdrawn[64]
Argentina Susana Malcorra 7 4 4 8 6 1 7 7 1 7 7 1 7 7 1 5 (2P) 7 (1P) 3 (2P) Withdrawn
Croatia Vesna Pusić 2 11 2 Withdrawn[65]
Slovenia Danilo Türk 11 2 2 7 5 3 5 6 4 7 6 2 7 7 1 5 (1P) 8 (4P) 2 Withdrawn
Candidate received at least one "encouraged" from a veto-wielding P5 member
Candidate received at least one "discouraged" from a veto-wielding P5 member

Official nomination and appointment

At the conclusion of the straw polls process, António Guterres emerged as the Security Council's consensus candidate. After the last straw poll on 5 October, Guterres was formally elected by the Security Council, by acclamation, on 6 October, and his nomination to the General Assembly was formalized with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2311.[4] In that resolution, and in accordance with current practice, the Security Council recommends that the General Assembly should appoint Guterres to a five-year term of office as Secretary General, from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.[4]

On 13 October 2016, the seventy-first session of the United Nations General Assembly formally appointed Guterres as the next secretary-general, for the five year term beginning on 1 January 2017. The General Assembly vote on the appointment of Guterres was by acclamation.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 World Federation of United Nations Associations [WFUNA] (5 October 2016). "Full results of the sixth and final #NextSG strawpoll. Formal result tomorrow. (P5 voting intentions excluded)" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 October 2016 – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 4 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55285#.WAHOPNUrJUQ
  3. 1 2 "UN Secretary-General". unelections.org. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/2311(2016)
  5. ↑ Chesterman, Simon (2007). "Introduction". In Chesterman, Simon. Secretary or General? The UN Secretary-General in World Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 7.
  6. ↑ General Assembly resolution 11(I) (1946) Archived 30 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine..
  7. ↑ "UN Secretary-General". Unelections.org. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  8. ↑ The next UN secretary-general: 7 women to consider, Devex, 5 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Tony Fleming (15 December 2015). "Joint Letter Officially Released". Global Memo via UNO. Retrieved 15 October 2016. Online version:
  10. ↑ "Time for a Woman: United Nations—it's been over 70 years, elect a female Secretary-General". Equality Now. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Carole (26 July 2016). "(United Nations Secretary-General Election)". Asia Pacific NGO CSW. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Chesterman, Simon (27 June 2015). "Who wants to rule the world?". Straits Times. Retrieved 7 August 2016..
  13. ↑ "For first time in history, selection of next United Nations Secretary-General will include input from all Member States", United Nations News Centre, 15 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "The most powerful diplomat of the world—Will an Eastern European Woman be the next UN Secretary General?". Association of Foreign Affairs. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  15. ↑ "U.N. pledges to remove secrecy around selection process for next secretary-general". Toronto Star. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  16. 1 2 "Procedure of Selecting and Appointing the next UN Secretary-General". UN. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "UN Secretary-General Election". Global Policy Watch. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  18. ↑ "United Nations begins informal briefings to select next Secretary-General". UN News Center. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Next Secretary General selection: nomination of new candidate of Bulgaria" (PDF).
  20. ↑ Bokova, Irina [IrinaForUN] (28 September 2016). "Grateful to you all who support me and fully committed to continue the race for #NextSG! @She4SG" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 September 2016 – via Twitter. |link = no }
  21. ↑ "José Maria Neves supports candidature of António Guterres to UN Secretary General". Ocean Press. 24 January 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Cabo Verde apoia candidatura de António Guterres ao cargo de secretário-geral da ONU" [Cape Verde endorses António Guterres' for the position of UN Secretary-General]. A Bola. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "Angola apoia candidatura de Guterres a secretário-geral da ONU" [Angola endorses Guterres' candidacy for UN Secretary-General]. Expresso. Lusa. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  24. ↑ Martins, António; Escoto, Pedro (18 April 2016). "França anunciou que vai apoiar Guterres na corrida a secretário-geral da ONU" [France announced endorsement of Guterres in UN Secretary-General race]. RTP Notícias. RTP. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "Timor apoia candidatura de Guterres à ONU" [Timor endorses Guterres' candidacy for UN]. Expresso. Lusa. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  26. ↑ "Vesna Pusić odustaje od kandidature za glavnu tajnicu Ujedinjenih naroda".
  27. ↑ Withdrawal of candidature of Vesna Pusić, 4 August 2016
  28. ↑ "El montenegrino Igor Luksic abandonó la carrera para suceder a Ban Ki-moon".
  29. ↑ Withdrawal of candidature of Igor Lukšić, 23 August 2016
  30. ↑ Figures, Christiana [CFiguere] (12 September 2016). "1/2 Deeply grateful for support received in so many ways," (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ↑ Withdrawal of candidature of Christiana Figueres, 13 September 2016
  32. ↑ Anderson, Stephanie (18 July 2016). "Julie Bishop confirms Kevin Rudd seeking nomination for UN Secretary-General election". ABC News. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  33. ↑ Hunter, Fergus (18 July 2016). "Nominate me: Kevin Rudd seeks government support to be United Nations boss". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  34. ↑ Borrello, Eliza; Anderson, Stephanie (29 July 2016). "Kevin Rudd releases letters claiming Malcolm Turnbull backed him for United Nations secretary-general job". ABC News. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  35. ↑ Murphy, Katharine (29 July 2016). "Malcolm Turnbull refuses to nominate Kevin Rudd as UN secretary general". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  36. ↑ Rudd, Kevin [MrKRudd] (29 July 2016). "My deep gratitude to all friends, colleagues and supporters around the world for your encouragement for my candidature for UN Sec General." (Tweet). Retrieved 29 July 2016 – via Twitter.
  37. ↑ Rudd, Kevin [MrKRudd] (29 July 2016). "My thanks also to Australian Foreign Minister Bishop and her ministerial colleagues for their support for UNSG. Unfortunately PM disagreed." (Tweet). Retrieved 29 July 2016 – via Twitter.
  38. ↑ Rudd, Kevin [MrKRudd] (29 July 2016). "So there won't be an Australian candidate for UN Sec Gen.I wish all other candidates well. Future of the United Nations important for us all" (Tweet). Retrieved 29 July 2016 – via Twitter.
  39. ↑ József Spirk. "Áder János az ENSZ-főtitkári posztra hajt". Index.hu. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  40. ↑ "The Politics of UN Leadership". Project Syndicate. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Race for U.N. Secretary-General Is Rigged". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  42. ↑ "Angela Merkel 'does not want to complete full term as German chancellor'". The Telegraph. London. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  43. ↑ "The Push for a Woman to Run the U.N.". The New York Times. 23 August 2015.
  44. ↑ Af: Søren Mortensen @sorenmortensen Send email Se profil. "For og imod: Sådan kan Thorning lande topjob i FN". Bt.dk. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  45. ↑ "YK hakee uutta pääsihteeriä, mustien hevosten listalta löytyy yllätysnimi Alexander Stubb | Pääkirjoitukset | HS". Hs.fi. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  46. ↑ "Security Council to hold second straw poll of next UN chief on Aug. 5". People's Republic of China: Xinhua. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  47. ↑ Lederer, Edith M. (21 July 2016). "Diplomats:Ex-Portuguese Minister Tops Poll for Next UN Chief". United States: ABC News. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  48. ↑ Landry, Carole (5 August 2016). "Second straw poll could shake up race for UN chief". France 24. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  49. ↑ "UN to Hold Next Straw Poll for Top Job on August 29". Novinite. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  50. ↑ "Portugal's Antonio Guterres set to be UN secretary general". BBC News. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  51. 1 2 Sengupta, Somini; Minder, Raphael (6 October 2016). "António Guterres Pledges to Help Vulnerable as Secretary General". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  52. ↑ Orestes, Benjamin [boreskes] (21 July 2016). "SOURCE: #NEXTSG straw poll: 1)Guterres 2) Turk 3) Bokova 4) Jeremic/Kerim 5)Clark 6)Lajčák 7)Malcorra 8)Figueres9)Gherman10)Luksic 11)Pusic" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2016 – via Twitter.
  53. ↑ Lee, Matthew Russell (21 July 2016). "On Next SG Straw Poll, Results & Questions of Dual Nationalities, Exclusive". Inner City Press. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  54. ↑ Abi Saab, Nabil [NabilAbiSaab] (5 August 2016). "1/2 Results of 2nd round of voting on next #UNSG: (Yes, No, no opinion) Guterres 11,2,2 Jeremic 8,4,3 Malcorra 8,6,1 Turk 7,5,3 Clark 6,8,1" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 August 2016 – via Twitter.
  55. ↑ Abi Saab, Nabil [NabilAbiSaab] (5 August 2016). "2/2 Figueres 5,8,2 Kerim 6, 7, 2 Luksic 2,9,4 Bokova 7,7,1 Gherman 3,10,2 Lajcak 2,6,7" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 August 2016 – via Twitter.
  56. ↑ World Federation of United Nations Associations [WFUNA] (29 August 2016). "As part of our commitment to Transparency and Accountability, here are full results of the 3rd #NextSG Straw Poll:" (Tweet). Retrieved 29 August 2016 – via Twitter.
  57. ↑ Bryce-Pease, Sherwin (29 August 2016). "Results of latest straw poll to select next #UNSG". SABC News. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  58. ↑ World Federation of United Nations Associations [WFUNA] (9 September 2016). "As part of our continued push for #Transparency at the #UN Full #NextSG 4th Straw Poll Results:" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 September 2016 – via Twitter.
  59. 1 2 "Who will lead the United Nations". Reuters. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  60. ↑ World Federation of United Nations Associations [WFUNA] (26 September 2016). "WFUNA presents the results of 5th #NextSG Straw Poll." (Tweet). Retrieved 26 September 2016 – via Twitter.
  61. ↑ Sengupta, Somini (5 October 2016). "Security Council Backs António Guterres to Be Next U.N. Secretary General". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  62. ↑ Foroohar, Kambiz (5 October 2016). "Portugal's Guterres Wins Unanimous Backing to Lead the UN". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  63. ↑ "Figueres ends UN Secretary General bid". News.com.au. 13 September 2016.
  64. ↑ "Montenegro's Luksic drops out of race to be next UN chief". Associated Press. 23 August 2016.
  65. ↑ "Vesna Pusić Withdraws as Candidate for UN Secretary General". Total Croatia News. 4 August 2016.

Further reading

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