South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon won a U.N. Security Council poll for the third time on Thursday in the race to become the next U.N. secretary-general, officials here said.
Ban Ki-Moon received 13 "encouragement" votes, one of "discouragement" and one of no opinion, they added.
He was comfortably ahead of Shashi Tharoor, the Indian U.N. undersecretary-general for public information, who was in second place, and five other candidates.
The vote could serve as a bellwether for the final selection which could be made as early as next month.
It remains unknown whether Ban received the crucial approval of all five veto-wielding members of the Security Council, as they used the same colored ballot papers as the ten non-standing members again.
In the fourth straw poll, slated for Oct. 2, the permanent and non-standing members will use different papers.
A candidate must receive unanimous approval from the U.S., France, Britain, China and Russia to become chief of the world body.
New York, Sept. 28 (Yonhap News)
S. Korean minister wins U.N. straw poll on secretary-general post again |
