Off the wire
• India's recent caste violence leaves 30 dead, over 200 injured in Haryana state  • China's Wanda to jointly develop leading project in Europe  • Chicago agricultural commodities lower to close week  • Argentina's former president Fernandez told to appear in court over currency manipulation charge  • Roundup: Canadian stocks tick up on U.S. growth data  • 2d LD: Cessation of hostilities plan goes into effect in Syria  • 1st LD: Cessation of hostilities plan goes into effect in Syria  • Roundup: U.S. stocks end mixed amid upbeat GDP report  • Roundup: Worst tropical cyclone adversely impacts up to 120,000 children in Fiji  • Urgent: Cessation of hostilities plan goes into effect in Syria  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: New selection process for next UN chief "potentially game changing": top UN official

Xinhua, February 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

The new selection process for the next UN secretary-general is potentially game changing and historic, the president of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, said here Friday.

The candidates for the new secretary-general will have two hours each to engage with the 193-member General Assembly in informal dialogues beginning on Apr. 12, Lykketoft told reporters at a press conference.

While the informal consultations with the General Assembly are new, Lykketoft said the Assembly will still elect the secretary-general "after a proposal brought forward by the (15-member UN) Security Council."

Under to the UN Charter, the secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly following the recommendation of the Security Council.

The new elected secretary-general will succeed Ban Ki-moon, the eighth UN chief who will conclude his tenure on Dec. 31 this year. On Jan. 1, 2017, the new UN chief will start a five-year term, which can be renewed by member states for an additional five years.

All the 193 UN member states will for the first time be included "totally" in the selection of the next UN secretary-general, the president said on Dec. 15, 2015 as he opened the process of selecting the next UN chief.

By sending his joint letter with the president of the Security Council to all the UN member states, Lykketoft said it started the process of soliciting candidates leading to the selection and appointment of the next UN chief.

The joint letter acknowledges the importance of transparency and inclusiveness in the process. It also encourages member states "to consider presenting women, as well as men, as candidates for the position of secretary-general."

A General Assembly resolution adopted in September 2015 called for the selection of the secretary-general to "be guided by the principles of transparency and inclusiveness, building on best practices and the participation of all Member States."

At the press conference, Lykketoft said there are groups advocating for the next secretary-general to be the first woman to lead the global organization, and the first Eastern European. However, he said there are no regulations covering either of these considerations.

"We know there is a very strong group, over all the regional groups, arguing for this being the occasion of selecting the first female secretary-general," he said.

However, while in theory candidates could be from one of the four other UN regional groups --Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin American and Caribbean, and the Western Europe and others, all six candidates to date are from Eastern Europe, and three of them are women, including Irina Bokova, the veteran Bulgarian diplomat who is the current head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Lykketoft said another two candidates are expected in coming weeks, meaning that it is likely that eight candidates will address the General Assembly in mid-April. Significantly, this will happen before the Security Council makes its considerations, which is why, Lykketoft argues, the consultations could be potentially game changing.

To date, the six official candidates, including Bokova, are: former Croatian foreign minister Vesna Pusic, former Slovenian president Danilo Turk, former Macedonian foreign minister and former UN General Assembly president Srgjan Kerim, Montenegro's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Igor Luksic, as well as former Moldovan foreign minister Natalia Gherman.

Other potential candidates indicated by media reports include former Portuguese prime minister and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, Serbian former foreign minister Vuk Jeremic, who was former General Assembly president, and New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark, who is currently the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Previous UN secretaries-general have come from Norway, Sweden, Myanmar, Austria, Peru, Egypt, Ghana and South Korea. Nationals of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- are not considered eligible to run for the position. Enditem