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Guterres tops latest vote for UN chief; Jeremic, Malcorra on the rise –
POLITICO

http://www.politico.eu/article/guterres-tops-latest-vote-for-un-chief-jeremic-malcorra-on-the-rise/

Guterres tops latest vote for UN chief; Jeremic, Malcorra on the rise

Antonio Guterres.

Vote leaves the field of contenders to replace Ban Ki-moon muddled.

NEW YORK — Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres continues to
lead the race to be the next U.N. Secretary General, but the Argentinian
candidate, widely believed to have U.S. backing, is rising quickly in the
rankings following a closed-door vote of the Security Council Friday.

Argentinian foreign minister Susana Malcorra jumped from eighth in the
Council’s July 21 informal “straw poll” to third in today’s vote, two
sources told POLITICO. She received eight “encouragement” votes —
equivalent to a “yes” — as well as six discouragement votes and one “no
opinion,” the same sources said.

As POLITICO previously reported
<http://www.politico.eu/article/us-and-russia-brawl-over-race-for-un-chief/>,
Malcorra, who previously served as current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s
deputy, is widely believed to have U.S. support.

“The U.S. has woken up and started lobbying for Malcorra so [is] expecting
her to do much better this time,” one close watcher of the race told
POLITICO just before the results leaked.

Still, Malcorra remained behind both Guterres and former Serbian Prime
Minister Vuk Jeremic, who also jumped in the rankings, coming in second
with eight yes votes and four no votes.

The vote leaves the field of contenders to replace Ban Ki-moon muddled;
while several diplomats had expected the Friday vote to prompt some
poorly-performing candidates to drop out immediately, that now appears
unlikely. A victor is expected to emerge in October.

Guterres, who previously led the U.N.’s refugee agency, received 11 yes
votes, one less than in the July straw poll. And unlike in July, which he
faced no opposition, Guterres also received two “discouragement” votes.

Malcorra received six no votes, and it’s not clear if she was opposed by
one of the Security Council’s other veto-wielding members, which would
ultimately doom her changes . While the United States, Russia, China,
United Kingdom and France will able to use their veto power during the
final vote this fall, they can’t use their vetoes in these early straw
polls. That makes the current rankings somewhat subjective; for instance,
while Malcorra has more yes votes than Former Slovenian President Danilo
Turk, she also has more no votes.

Turk — who surprised many when he came in second last in the July straw
poll — dropped to fourth.

The candidate thought to be backed by Moscow, UNESCO Director-General Irina
Bokova, dropped from third to fifth place and received more no votes than
the first straw poll.
Authors:


Eric D. Schwerin
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.com

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