Security Council to hold second straw poll of next UN chief on Aug. 5

The UN Security Council will hold its second straw poll on candidates vying for becoming the next UN Secretary-General on Aug. 5, Japan's Ambassador Koro Bessho told reporters here on Tuesday.

The Security Council held its first straw poll on Thursday behind closed doors and made no official announcement of the results.

So far, 12 candidates have been competing for the post of the next UN chief: half of them are women; eight are from the eastern European nations.

Strong competitors among them are former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, former Slovenian President Danilo Turk, UN cultural agency UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

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 Security Council, particularly its five permanent members, will make the final choice and send a single candidate to the General Assembly for approval.

Before the final decision comes out, several rounds of straw polls would be held among the 15 Security Council members.

Diplomats have said the purpose of straw poll is to inform the candidates of where they stand in the race and encourage those who don't do well to drop out.

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 later in the fall.

Ten years ago, before the 15-nation council made their final decision, it held four rounds of straw polls to select Ban as the single candidate and recommend him to the post of UN chief. Endit