Second Straw Poll on UN Top Job Candidates Next Week

The United Nations Security Council?s plenary hall in New York. File photo, EPA/BGNES

The United Nations Security Council is set to hold a second straw vote next week on candidates vying to take over as the world body's Secretary General, a diplomat has said.

The vote is due on August 05, according to Koro Bessho, Japan's Ambassador to the UN.

Japan is currently holding the rotating presidency of the Security Council.

Bulgaria's candidate, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, came third in the first straw poll, after Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres. He was followed by Danilo Turk, Slovenia's former President.

The result is not binding, with several unofficial votes due over the next months. UNSC members can choose between "encourage", "discourage" or "no opinion."

A final nominee will not emerge before October, when a candidate will be offered to the UN General Assembly for consideration.

The current procedure is the first for the UN in which the General Assembly has a say.

There are currently twelve contenders for the post, with six of them being female and eight from Eastern Europe.

Suggestions have repeatedly been made over the past month that the next UN Secretary General should be female - for the first time in the organization's history - and from Eastern Europe, based on the principle of geographic rotation.

However, some diplomats within the UN are disputing this, saying the best candidate should be picked instead.

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