UN Secretary-General Race: Grynspan Extends Lead With 12 Votes in Eighth Straw Poll
United Nations — An informal straw poll held by the UN Security Council on November 5 showed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan extending her lead in the race to become the next secretary-general, Reuters reported, citing two people close to the process. Grynspan received 12 votes in favour and three against on the 15-member council, her strongest showing in the eight closed-door ballots held in recent months. The tallies of the other candidates in this round were not disclosed.
In the seventh straw poll on October 30, Grynspan won 11 votes in favour and four against, with Argentina's Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in second place with nine votes in favour. Incumbent Secretary-General Antonio Guterres finishes his second five-year term on December 31, and the winner will become the United Nations' 10th secretary-general.
A formal council recommendation requires at least nine affirmative votes and no discouraging vote from any of the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The straw-poll format does not reveal how the permanent members voted, so it remains unsettled whether Grynspan can ultimately lock down the recommendation. In the more than 80-year history of the United Nations, there has never been a female secretary-general.
Related: UN Secretary-General Straw Poll: Grynspan Widens Lead With 11 Votes
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：哥斯达黎加前副总统 Rebeca Grynspan（资料照片）。照片 CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
