On September 18, Eastern Time, 15 members of the United Nations Security Council conducted the third round of intention-to-hold votes on the candidate for the new Secretary-General. The entire voting process will be held behind closed doors, and no specific vote data will be released to the public. The results of each round of intention-to-mind voting circulated by the outside world are not the official results officially released by the Security Council.
The Secretary-General is recommended by the Security Council and appointed by the UN General Assembly. His term is 5 years and can be re-elected, usually no more than two terms. Candidates cannot come from the five permanent members of the Security Council. in addition,According to the pattern of recent years, the Secretary-GeneralTypically held on a rotating basis by individuals from all continents, the role also requires leadership and management capabilities, extensive international experience, and excellent diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.The background and policy stance of the new Secretary-General will affect the priority of resource investment and the intensity of action on core issues of the United Nations.
According to CCTV News, the number of candidates has not changed since the second round of intentional voting on August 21. It is still 8, including 5 women and 3 men, 6 from Latin America and 2 from Africa. Among them, Caroline Rodriguez-Burkitt of Guyana is temporarily in the lead and serves asSecretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and DevelopmentGreenspan, a Costa Rican, and Grossi Grossi, an Argentine who is now the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, followed.
But none of them have reached the recommendation threshold of 9 “encourage” votes. Observers said that this situation is rare and to a certain extent shows that there is no consensus within the Security Council. Previously, Annan, Ban Ki-moon and Guterres all led the way in the first round, and have been able to maintain more than 9 votes in the subsequent rounds.
Later this year, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a plenary vote on the candidates submitted by the Security Council, and they can be formally appointed if they receive the support of a majority of the 193 member states.The current Secretary-General is Guterres from Portugal. He is 77 years old. His second term will end on December 31, 2026, and his successor will take office on January 1, 2027.
In November last year, President of the United Nations General Assembly Bell Burke and the rotating presidency of the Security Council, Sierra Leone, jointly issued a letter to officially launch the selection and appointment process of the next Secretary-General. The letter specifically encourages member states to “strongly consider the nomination of female” candidates, given that a woman has never held the position before.
53 years oldRodriguez-Burkitt is currently the Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations. If elected, he will become the first Secretary-General from the Caribbean in the history of the United Nations. She promised to promote the reform of the United Nations, create a more flexible and efficient international organization, and ensure the balanced development of the three pillars of peace and security, development, and human rights. Positioning her diplomatic style as “principled, pragmatic and responsive”, she said that if elected, she would directly talk to all parties to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and promote a peaceful solution. At the same time, she is willing to assist Ukraine in preparing for elections after receiving a formal request.
Former Chilean President Bachelet, who was once optimistic, has publicly admitted that she has no hope of winning the election.The 75-year-old was elected president of Chile twice, in 2005 and 2013.In 2012, it was selected by “外交政策》雜Magazine named him one of the 10 most influential people in the region. Her international political experience is equally rich, including serving as a medical advisor to organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization, and as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Currently, the international community is caught up in the problems of prevalent unilateralism, escalating geopolitical conflicts, intensifying climate crisis, and growing humanitarian needs. As the core institution of the global multilateralism system, the United Nations itself is facing growing financial and political pressure.
Guterres recently warned that the world is facing three major existential challenges: rapidly developing artificial intelligence, intensifying climate change, and expanding economic inequality. The Security Council is paralyzed in handling major conflicts due to the game of great powers. He alsoEarlier this year, the United Nations said the United Nations faced “imminent financial difficulties” due to member states defaulting on their dues.service collapse”.
As the largest contributor to the United Nations budget, the Trump administration of the United States has initiated the process of paying US$725 million to the United Nations to repay part of its arrears in dues to the United Nations. The payment is expected to be completed before Trump goes to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly next week. HoweverThis $725 million is less than 20% of the total amount owed by the United States. According to the United Nations, the United States has accumulated more than $4 billion in arrears.。Former U.N. officials and financial experts said the U.S. funding would help cover U.N. salaries throughout the year and avoid immediate spending cuts.
According to the Charter of the United Nations第19條, if a member state’s arrears in dues reaches or exceeds the total dues paid in the previous two years, it may lose its voting rights in the United Nations General Assembly in January of the following year. This voting right is the core legal right of each member state to participate in global multilateral governance, including deciding on the appointment and removal of core personnel of the United Nations, safeguarding the international rights and interests of member states, and constraining the boundaries of member states’ powers and responsibilities.
The Trump administration has previously refused to pay some mandatory assessments for the United Nations regular and peacekeeping budgets, cut voluntary funding to multiple United Nations agencies, and withdrew from multiple international agencies.
