Key facts
- Rebeca Grynspan, former Costa Rican Vice President, is the frontrunner in the race for the next UN Secretary-General.
- An informal Security Council poll on Friday showed Grynspan narrowly ahead of other candidates.
- This was the third secret poll conducted by the 15-member Security Council.
- Grynspan received nine 'encourage' votes, five 'discourage' votes, and one 'no opinion'.
- Guyana's UN Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett received eight 'encourage' votes, six 'discourage' votes, and one 'no opinion'.
- Eight candidates are currently vying to succeed Antonio Guterres, whose term ends this year.
Rebeca Grynspan, the former Vice President of Costa Rica, has narrowly taken the lead in the race to become the next United Nations Secretary-General, according to the results of an informal poll by the UN Security Council. The poll, conducted on Friday, was the third secret ballot among the 15-member council.
The results place Grynspan ahead of Guyana's UN Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, who had topped the previous poll last month. The first poll in July had also shown Grynspan narrowly in the lead. The current Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, is set to step down at the end of the year after completing two five-year terms.
In Friday's poll, Grynspan received nine 'encourage' votes, five 'discourage' votes, and one 'no opinion'. Rodrigues Birkett garnered eight 'encourage' votes, six 'discourage' votes, and one 'no opinion'. Eight candidates are currently vying for the position, with the possibility of more entering the race.
Richard Gowan, director of global issues and institutions at the International Crisis Group, noted that neither Grynspan nor Rodrigues Birkett have achieved a decisive breakthrough, suggesting that weaker candidates might withdraw. He also anticipates that the current figures could encourage additional candidates to join the contest.
The five permanent members of the Security Council—the United States, China, Russia, France, and Britain—must ultimately agree on a candidate. The selection process for Guterres in 2016 required six straw polls before an agreement was reached. The Security Council will formally recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for election, a step that has historically been a formality.