UN General Assembly kicks off audition with candidates for next UN chief

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday kicked off a three-day audition with eight candidates for the position of the next UN Secretary-general with Igor Luksic from Montenegro in the lead.

The 39-year-old Luksic presented his vision statement in fluent English and French and concluded his debut speech by saying "thank you" in several UN official languages, including Chinese.

Luksic then answered questions from General Assembly representatives, touching upon the topics of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers, implementation of sustainable development agenda, as well as promoting gender and geographical equality among the senior management group within the UN system.

Luksic is Montenegro's deputy prime minister and foreign minister and is the youngest among all the candidates declared so far.

He will be followed by Irina Bokova, director-general of UN cultural agency UNESCO and Antonio Guterres, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees for auditions later on Tuesday.

In the next two days another five candidates will also make their case: former Slovenian President Danilo Turk, former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, former Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs Natalia Gherman, European integration and administrator of UN Development Program Helen Clark, and former Prime Minister of Macedonia Srgjan Kerim.

UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft said before the event that the informal dialogue between candidates and General Assembly representatives is a "potentially game-changing exercise." He also appealed for more transparency and inclusiveness in the selection process.

According to the UN Charter, the UN secretary-general shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. In practice, the 15-member Security Council and its five permanent members will make the final choice and send a single candidate to the General Assembly for approval. Endi