Secret votes and vetoes: how the next UN secretary-general will be chosen

The United Nations Security Council is holding informal, anonymous polls to choose a new UN secretary-general by 31 December, when the term of the current chief, Antonio Guterres, ends. Eight candidates are running and eight polls have been held, but no candidate has yet emerged without any discouraging votes. The outcome will determine who leads the world body in the coming years.

How the selection works

Formally, the 15-member Security Council recommends a candidate to the UN General Assembly. Five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — can use a veto. The ten non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms and currently are Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia.

In the polls, council members say whether they "encourage", "discourage" or have "no opinion" on each candidate. The results are meant to be secret but are often leaked. In later rounds, coloured ballot papers are used to tell permanent and elected members' votes apart. Once a candidate gets at least nine "encourage" votes and no veto, the council holds a formal vote, and the General Assembly is expected to endorse the recommendation. The Assembly has never rejected a candidate chosen by the council.

Candidates and poll results

The field includes Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan, head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Others are Lana Nusseibeh, the United Arab Emirates' minister of state for foreign affairs; Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, a former General Assembly president from Ecuador; Feridun Sinirlioglu of Turkiye; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana's ambassador to the UN; and politicians Ivonne A-Baki of Ecuador and Olara Otunnu of Uganda.

In last week's poll, Grynspan received 12 "encourage" and three "discourage" votes. Grossi got nine "encourage", four "discourage" and two "no opinion", while Birkett received eight "encourage", five "discourage" and two "no opinion". It is unclear how the permanent members voted.

If no one is chosen

The UN Charter does not say what happens if no one is picked before Guterres's term ends. The council could recommend a candidate for a shorter term or seek a compromise, as in 1996 when Kofi Annan was selected after a deadlock. Member states could also let a senior UN official oversee operations in the meantime.