South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon is said to be first in a straw poll of candidates to become the next United Nations secretary-general held here on Monday, a U.N. source said.
"The poll was carried out at 3 p.m. (4 a.m. Tuesday Korean time) and Ban was ahead of all three other rivals," the source said.
He said there was a considerable gap in the number of approval votes between Ban and other candidates but that it was still premature to draw any conclusions, given that there are about three months before the international body is expected to formally elect its new chief.
Ban is said to have earned 12 of 15 Security Council votes, but it wasn't clear whether the three nonsupporting votes came from any of the five permanent council members that hold veto power. A candidate needs at least nine of the Council votes without any veto, after which he or she has to be approved by the 192 U.N. member states.
The Security Council is expected to decide on the next secretary-general by October after another straw poll, but the process may take longer if the permanent members cannot reach a consensus.
The South Korean foreign minister is running against Thai Deputy Prime Minister Kurakiart Sathirathai, former U.N. disarmament chief Jayantha Dhanapala, and current U.N. Undersecretary General Shashi Tharoor.
The new secretary-general's five-year term begins in January next year.
New York, July 24 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea's FM Ban said to rank first in straw poll for U.N. secretary-general |
