By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Senegal’s former President Macky Sall will along with four other candidates eyeing United Nations’ top job undergo auditioning.
Sall is the only African among those seeking to succeed outgoing Secretary-General António Guterres, who leaves office at the end of the year following the expiration of his tenure.
The four gunning to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations is far less than those who vied for the office 10 years ago when António Guterres was selected as UN chief.
Chile’s former President Michelle Bachelet, one of two women and one of three from Latin America will be the first to face ambassadors from the UN’s 193-member nations during a three-hour question-and-answer session on Tuesday. Bachelet will be followed by UN nuclear chief Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina.
On Wednesday, UN trade chief Rebeca Grynspan will take centre stage in the General Assembly hall, and finally, Senegal’s former President Macky Sall.
In 2016, a hotly contested race drew 13 candidates. There was intense pressure to choose the first woman to lead the United Nations. Seven of the 13 candidates were women. But there was widespread agreement that Guterres performed best in what the UN calls the “interactive dialogue” with General Assembly members.
The UN Charter says little about choosing the Secretary-General except that the General Assembly, which includes all members, should do so upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
That gives the five permanent members of the UN’s most powerful body the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France the decision-making role and veto power over the selection.
By tradition, the Secretary-General rotates by region. Guterres, a former Portuguese Prime Minister and UN refugee chief representing Europe, succeeded former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who represented Asia. He followed Ghana’s Kofi Annan, who represented Africa.
Now, it should be Latin America’s turn, though Eastern Europe has never had a Secretary-General and lost out in 2016.
Under UN rules, candidates must be nominated by a member nation not necessarily their own.
There is no time limit for nominations, and more candidates could appear, but in 2016 the Security Council started doing “straw polls” among the 13 candidates in late July, which basically served as a cutoff.
