UN Security Council holds straw poll on secretary-general candidates

UNITED NATIONS, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Thursday held its first straw poll on the candidates for the next UN secretary-general.

"The first round of straw poll has taken place," said Zenon Mukongo Ngay, the UN Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of July.

"The candidates will be informed of the results through the respective permanent representatives of nominating member states. The president of the (UN) General Assembly will also be informed that the straw poll has been conducted," he told reporters after the conclusion of the secret vote.

Through straw polls, the Security Council selects a candidate to recommend to the General Assembly for appointment as the next UN secretary-general.

Mukongo Ngay said all seven candidates were on the straw poll. He did not disclose the result of Thursday's straw poll.

Security Council straw polls on secretary-general candidates are informal closed-door ballots used to gauge support for the candidates. Their results are not officially released.

Article 97 of the UN Charter states that the secretary-general shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

The seven candidates are: Michelle Bachelet, former Chilean president and former UN high commissioner for human rights; Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former UN General Assembly president and former foreign minister and defense minister of Ecuador; Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina, current director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Rebeca Grynspan, former vice president of Costa Rica and current secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development; Olara Otunnu of Uganda, former UN under-secretary-general; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana's permanent representative to the United Nations and Macky Sall, former president of Senegal. ■