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Serbia's Vuk Jeremic announced as new candidate for next UN chief

Xinhua, April 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft on Tuesday said that Vuk Jeremic of Serbia has announced his entry into the race for the post of next UN chief.

Lykketoft made the confirmation when he wrapped up the first day hearings for candidates competing to grab the top UN position. There are now altogether nine candidates in the race.

Jeremic will be participating in this informal dialogue between candidates seeking to become the next UN secretary-general and the 193-member General Assembly at 9:00 a.m. local time(1300 GMT) on Thursday, according to Lykketoft.

Jeremic was president of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly from 2012 to 2013. He also served as minister of foreign affairs of Serbia from 2007 to 2012.

The UN General Assembly has kicked off the first-ever audition for UN secretary-general candidates earlier Tuesday, during which the candidates have been required to present their vision about the world's largest international organization and also take questions from General Assembly representatives as well as the civil society.

Lykketoft said the informal dialogue is "potentially game-changing exercise" which aims to promote the transparency and inclusiveness in the selection process of the next UN chief. The new move is widely seen as historic yet not decisive.

Under 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, especially its five permanent members -- the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China -- will make the final choice and send a single candidate to the General Assembly for approval.

The incumbent UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is going to conclude his term at the end of 2016. The council's decision to select the top leader of the world organization shall come late this year. Endit