Portugal’s former prime minister, Antonio Guterres, has consolidated a strong lead in the race to become the next United Nations’ secretary general, after a third secret ballot.
Russia has argued that the top job ought to be awarded to someone from eastern Europe but Guterres remains in poll position to succeed Ban Ki-moon at the UN.
A fourth poll will be held later this month in the hope that a winner can be chosen with wide support by October 2016.
The secret polls are given to the 15 security council members who then vote whether to encourage, discourage or express no opinion about a certain candidate.
The result of the latest poll showed that 11 members marked ‘encourage’ against Guterres’ name.
Those slipping back in this bizarre, undemocratic and closed-shop recruitment process include Miroslav Lajcak, the Slovak foreign minister, Vuk Jeremic, a former Serbian foreign minister, and Irina Bokova, a former Bulgarian foreign minister and director-general of Unesco who many want as head of the UN as she is a she.
Russia, the US, UK, France and China all have the power to block any candidate and all need to agree on the final choice.
Lajcak’s may yet win if Russia continues to block Gutteres.
Gutteres was Portugal's socialist prime minister between 1995 and 2002 and served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.
