Ban Ki-moon succession: UN to hold first round polls

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is to hold its first round of the straw poll for the secretary general on Thursday.

This was confirmed by the permanent representative of Japan to the UN, on Wednesday and further mentioned that each member state can only select one candidate as the voting process and the result will be confidential.

“There will not be discussion in the council. It will be a voting process. I’m not sure if I’m at liberty to tell you exactly what the ballots are going to look like, but we would like to make sure that the fairness and confidentiality of voting is respected,” Koro Bessho, Permanent representative of Japan to UN told journalists.

So far, there are 12 people that have announced their candidacy for the position, including Irina Bokova, director general of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Helen Elizabeth Clark, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The (UNSC) held talks with the 12 candidates in June and early July but there haven’t been any discussions with the member states.

All aspiring candidates have participated in the public informal conversation held by the UN General Assembly, making the process more transparent.