Guyana’s Rodrigues-Birkett emerges top candidate for UN Secretary General in informal UNSC poll

United Nations, Aug 22 (IANS) Former Guyana Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett emerged as the top contender for Secretary-generalship in a straw poll held on Friday by the Security Council to gauge the support for the eight candidates, according to unofficial tabulations.

This time Rodrigues-Birkett, who was ranked second in the first informal poll held last month, edged out UNCTAD head Rebecca Grynspan, who led that poll.

None of the candidates received the nine “encourage” votes, as the positive ballots are classified in the straw poll, which is required for election.

Rodrigues-Birkett received eight positive votes, three negative, and four neutral in the 15-member Council, according to tabulations published by 1 for 8 Billion (1f8B), a group campaigning for fair and open election, and Pass Blue, a media site covering the UN.

But she still has an uphill task ahead of her: She will have to get nine votes, and none of the votes against her should be from a veto-wielding permanent UNSC member.

She dropped one positive or “encourage” vote from the poll last month, and the negative or “discourage” votes increased by one.

Grynspan’s tally went down from ten “encourage” in the July poll to seven this time, while “discourage” went up from one to four.

It is not possible to know where the candidates stand with the permanent members in the early straw polls.

In the later stages, permanent members’ votes will be colour-coded, while still remaining anonymous.

Officially, the straw polls are confidential, and Denmark’s Permanent Representative Christina Lassen, who is this month’s Council president, refused to give out the results.

But the results leaked out, anyway.

The candidate who is selected by the Council is recommended by it to the General Assembly, which by tradition rubber stamps the choice.

The dramatic change in the fortunes of Grynspan, a former Vice-President of Costa Rica, signals that the contest is still in a flux and leaves open the possibility that other candidates could join the fray to lead the 193-member world organisation.

Vasily Nebenzia, the Permanent Representative of Russia, which has veto, left that possibility open, adding to the speculations.

“I am speculating now,” he said on Thursday, “if there is a deadlock on any of the candidates we are seeing today, if nobody flies, then I think that we may see other candidates.”

Ivonne A-Baki, a former Ecuadorian Ambassador to the US and France, entered the race after last month’s poll, but she didn’t get any positive votes and piled up eight negatives.

International Atomic Energy Agency Head Rafael Grossi, an Argentinian, received seven positive and six negative votes, keeping his third position.

The other also-rans are Michelle Bachelet, a former Chilean President and UN Human Rights High Commissioner; Maria Fernanda Espinosa, a former President of the General Assembly and Ecuador’s Foreign Minister; Olara Otunnu, a former UN Under-Secretary-General and Uganda’s Foreign Minister, and former Senegal President Macky Sall.

–IANS

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