FSN Packages Feed: UN Security Council Votes in 'Straw Poll' For Next Secretary General

The UN Security Council is in the process of selecting a successor to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, whose term in office expires at the end of this year.

For the first time, candidates are being officially vetted and questioned in public hearings - and this Thursday, the UN is holding the first of several secret, non-binding straw polls on all the contenders.

Our correspondent at UN headquarters in New York, Lorna Shaddick, explains how it works.

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UPSOT Welcome to the UN General Assembly and the first ever televised live debate of the candidates for the post of UN Secretary General…

Public, televised, live streamed debates…

UPSOT - Danilo Turk: The world today needs a renovated United Nations…

… Campaign websites… (UPSOT Christiana Figueres: "We must have invincible optimism...")

...and Q&A sessions… (UPSOT Helen Clark: I see the incoming Secretary-General needing to update the administration...)

For the first time in 71 years, the UN's trying to make choosing a Secretary General more transparent - rather than the usual backchannel negotiations. Here's Dr. Michael John Williams, director of the international relations programme at New York University:

SOT - Dr. Michael John Williams, Director, International Relations Programme, NYU

The idea is to have public engagement, to have feedback and consideration, and to try and make the process more open. But ultimately it remains rather a closed process.

And part of that closed process here at UN HQ is the informal, secret straw polls of Security Council members, used since 1981 to assess how viable the candidates are before a formal ballot. Each member votes to 'encourage', 'discourage' or have 'no opinion' on each candidate - and they decide when the next straw poll should be as well. Dr. Williams again:

SOT - Dr. Michael John Williams, Director, International Relations Programme, NYU

I think it can be illustrative and can give you an idea of where things are, but it's just one part of a formal process that like most politics involves a lot of negotiating and handling, so the final person will really be a consensus candidate.

After the 15 Security Council members vote behind closed doors, the nominating states for each contender are told how their candidate did - and what the highest and lowest scores were - but the overall results aren't made public. Then it's up to the candidates to decide whether to drop out.

One thing's clear this year - a push by over a quarter of the 193 member states for a female secretary general… and half of the 12 candidates so far are women. New Zealand's Helen Clark, Costa Rica's Christina Figueres, Bulgaria's Irina Bokova and Argentina's Susanna Malcorra are among those in the running. Dr. Williams says they've got a good chance:

SOT - Dr. Michael John Williams, Director, International Relations Programme, NYU

It's highly likely that the next UNSG will be a woman. There are an extraordinary number of qualified women who are up for consideration, including those who work in the organisation already. Many of them have experience at the UN which is great but also have executive leadership ability in their own countries where they've worked.

But another man may still throw his hat in the ring - former Australian PM Kevin Rudd has shown an interest and is waiting to see if his country's new government will nominate him.

This is the first straw poll of this selection process here at the UN - but it's unlikely to be the last. There's no set number of polls, but given the large number of candidates this time round, the UN will be hoping this one will considerably narrow the field. Lorna Shaddick, New York.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

UN Security Council Votes in 'Straw Poll' For Next Secretary General