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1st LD Writethru: Portugal's former prime minister holds lead in race for next UN chief

Xinhua, August 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres held the lead in the race for the post of the next UN secretary-general, winning 11 "encourage" votes in the second round of straw poll conducted by the Security Council, diplomats said on Friday.

Earlier, the Security Council held its second straw poll on 11 candidates vying to become the next UN secretary-general. 15 council members voted "encourage," "discourage" or "no opinion" for each candidate.

Guterres, also the former U.N. high commissioner for refugees, has garnered 11 "encourage" votes, 2 "discourage" votes, and 2 "no opinion," diplomats said.

In the second place, Serbia's Former Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra both received 8 "encourage" votes. On "discourage" votes, Jeremic received 4, while Malcorra received 6.

Former Slovenia President Danilo Turk and Irina Bokova, head of UN cultural agency UNESCO both garnered 7 "encourage" votes, and Turk received 5 "discourage" votes, while Bokova got 7.

Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand and head of UN Development Program, received 6 "encourage" votes and 8 "discourage" votes. Natalia Gherman, Moldova's former minister of foreign affairs, got the highest discourage votes of 10.

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.

Currently, 11 candidates stay in the campaign. One day before the second poll, Former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic announced her withdrawal from the campaign due to the result of the first poll which shows her chances for the post were slim.

Diplomats have said the purpose of straw polls is to encourage those candidates who don't do well to drop out of the race.

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. Endit