Tuesday, April 12, 2016

UN lifts Secrecy In Race For Next Secretary-general


In a departure from 70 years of secrecy, candidates for United Nations secretary-general will this week make campaign-style pitches to the General Assembly as it hopes to influence the private Security Council poll that picks the winner, reports Reuters.
The search for a successor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - a former South Korean foreign minister
\Banki-moon
who steps down at the end of the 2016 after two five-year terms - has also sparked a push by more than a quarter of U.N. states for the organization's first female leader. While the 15-member Security Council will formally recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for election as the eighth U.N. secretary-general later this year, the General Assembly vote has long been seen as a rubber stamp.
The council's veto powers, the United States, Russia, Britain, China and France, must agree on the nominee. That effectively makes the five veto-power countries kingmakers - or queenmakers. After changes instituted by the General Assembly last year, the list of candidates is for the first time public with nomination letters and candidate resumes posted online. (www.un.org/pga/70/sg/)
In another first, the eight candidates who have so far been nominated will hold town hall meetings with the General Assembly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They will each pitch their credentials and answer questions in a two-hour session.


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