According to AFP report on July 26, with the addition of a new candidate, seven people have announced their candidacies for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The 75-year-old Olara Otunnu is the latest candidate who has been nominated to run for office in his homeland of Uganda. He was once a presidential candidate for the opposition party in Uganda and also served as a senior official at the United Nations. From 1997 to 2005, during the tenure of then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Otunnu served as the U.N. Deputy Secretary-General and Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict.
Currently, besides Otunu, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, Rafael Grossi of Argentina, Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana, and Macky Sall of Senegal have entered the race to succeed the current United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, who will step down on December 31 this year.
On July 30th, the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council will conduct the first closed-door secret voting among the candidates. Following this round of ‘straw poll’ voting, several more rounds of similar voting will take place until a candidate receives the required 9 votes of support, without being rejected by any of the five permanent members of the council.
Subsequently, the list of selected candidates will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly, so that they can be officially appointed to the position.
Previously, China stated that the election of the Secretary-General is related to the reform and development of the United Nations and the interests of its member states. China believes that the next Secretary-General should meet at least several hard criteria: first, he or she must firmly defend the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter; second, he or she should have extensive political and diplomatic experience, as well as comprehensive coordination abilities; third, on major issues, he or she should be able to uphold fairness, especially by paying attention to the interests and demands of developing countries; fourth, he or she should be able to accurately determine the direction of United Nations reforms and promote improvements in the efficiency and quality of UN work.
It can be summarized as: adherence to the charter, outstanding abilities, fairness and integrity, and a sense of responsibility in fulfilling duties. The Chinese side will participate in the election process of the next Secretary-General with a responsible attitude, together with everyone else.
