The second five-year term of the current Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, will end on 31 December 2026. After him, the process of choosing the next General Secretary has started. Currently 8 candidates are in the fray for this post. The 15 members of the United Nations Security Council are gauging their support for these candidates through secret voting. Costa Rica’s Rebecca Grinspan took the lead in the first informal poll last month. The second round of informal voting will take place today Friday. Even after this, there may be many informal polls, in which the number of candidates will gradually reduce. Formal elections may be held in October. How is the UN Chief chosen? The Secretary-General of the United Nations is not elected directly by the public or by vote of all countries. First the Security Council considers the candidates and through secret voting finds out how much support each candidate is getting. There are a total of 15 members in the Security Council. A candidate must get at least 9 votes to move forward. But getting 9 votes is not enough. The veto of any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, America, Russia, China, Britain and France, should not be against the candidate. After this, the name of the candidate agreed upon by the Security Council is sent to the United Nations General Assembly. After the approval of the General Assembly, he becomes the new Secretary General of the United Nations. Guterres’ term will end on December 31, 2026. Therefore, before that, preparations are being made to complete the process of selection of the new General Secretary. The 8 candidates in this race have different backgrounds. These include former Presidents, senior diplomats and people who have held senior positions in the United Nations. Let us know who is in this race and what are their claims. 1. Rebecca Grinspan- Costa Rica 70 year old Rebecca Grinspan is currently leading in this race. He got the most support in the first informal poll held last month. Grinspan is the former Vice President of Costa Rica and head of the United Nations Trade and Development Organization. He has taken leave from his current responsibilities to campaign for the post of General Secretary. If Grinspan is elected, she would be the first woman and first Jewish Secretary-General of the United Nations. His parents were Jewish refugees fleeing Europe during World War II. Controversy: Questions were raised regarding the use of expensive private aircraft while working in UNDP. A UN chartered plane was used to transport it from Dubai, which cost about 40 thousand dollars. 2. Michelle Bachelet- Chile 74 year old Michelle Bachelet is a socialist leader of Chile. She became the first female President of Chile in 2006. He then worked as the United Nations human rights chief. While being the human rights chief, Bachelet had released a report on the situation of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, China. China had criticized him for this. Bachelet has received support from Mexico and Brazil. However, Chile withdrew its support after right-wing President José Antonio Caste came to power. America has also been criticizing him for his stance on abortion rights. Controversy: Bachelet, while being the UN human rights chief, had raised questions on matters related to India’s Kashmir and citizenship. In 2019, he had expressed concern over the restrictions on communications and detention of leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. India had rejected his statement as wrong and inappropriate. 3. Maria Fernanda Espinosa- Ecuador 61 year old Maria Fernanda Espinosa is the former Foreign Minister of Ecuador. She has also been the President of the United Nations General Assembly. Espinosa says that the United Nations is the most important global forum to deal with the world’s common problems. However, she also advocates major reforms in the organization. His candidacy has received the support of Antigua and Barbuda, but his home country Ecuador has not supported him. Controversy: Espinosa’s political career has also been full of controversies. In 2019, there was an attempt to remove him from his post in the Ecuadorian Parliament. He was accused of granting citizenship to Julian Assange while he was Foreign Minister and of not handling the security crisis on the Colombia border properly. However, she did not receive the necessary votes to remove her and she remained in office. 4. Rafael Mariano Grossi- Argentina 65 year old Rafael Mariano Grossi is a career diplomat of Argentina. He has been the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2019. Grossi has been in the news for the last few years regarding Iran’s nuclear program and Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear plant. Is contesting for the post of Secretary General, but has not given up the post of IAEA Chief. He says that leaving the post would be like shirking one’s responsibility. Grossi wants the United Nations to play a more active role in major crises in the world and that necessary changes should be made in the organization. Controversy: Iran has been accusing him of bias. After the IAEA report in 2025, Iran had said that this opened the way for action against it. Grossi rejected the allegations, saying that the report was prepared based on investigation. 5. Caroline Rodrigues Birkett- Guyana 52-year-old Caroline Rodrigues-Birkett is the former Foreign Minister of Guyana. She comes from the tribal community of Guyana and became a minister at the age of just 27. Currently, she is her country’s ambassador to the United Nations. He says that the United Nations needs to re-establish its credibility in the world. Controversy: No major controversies 6. Ivone A-Baki- Ecuador 75-year-old Ivone A-Baki is an Ecuadorian diplomat and leader. She has been Ecuador’s ambassador to the United States. During this period, he had good relations with US President Donald Trump. His candidacy has been proposed by Tonga. He also has good relations with Gulf countries. She has been Ecuador’s ambassador to Qatar. Controversy: Has an old friendship with Donald Trump. She also had a role in organizing the Miss Universe pageant in Ecuador in 2004, when Trump was the owner of the pageant. Opponents allege his personal relationship with Trump is being used to influence Ecuador-US relations. 7. Macky Sall- Senegal 64-year-old Macky Sall is the former President of Senegal. He is also the current Chairman of the African Union. Mackie is calling peace and development the most important issues in his campaign. His candidacy was proposed by Burundi and endorsed by Senegal in July. Controversy: During his presidency, there were several violent demonstrations in Senegal between 2021 and 2024. Questions were raised over his handling of these protests. Many people died during this period. 8. Olara Otunnu- Uganda 75 year old Olara Otunnu has also been Uganda’s ambassador to the United Nations. He was also the Foreign Minister of his country for some time. In 2011, he contested the presidential election on behalf of the Uganda People’s Congress. However, he lost the election to long-time incumbent President Yoweri Museveni. Controversy: No major controversy Grinspan got 10 votes in the first round of voting. The first round of informal voting i.e. the first straw poll was held on July 30, 2026. In this, Rebecca Grinspan of Costa Rica remained at the forefront. There were 7 candidates in the race then. Ivonne A-Baki was not involved in this voting. She became the eighth candidate on 18 August.
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UN में चीफ गुटेरेस की जगह किसे मिलेगी: आज दूसरे दौर की वोटिंग, रेस में 8 दावेदार, कोस्टा रिका की ग्रिन्सपैन सबसे आगे
