United Nations, September 30, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebecca Grynspan has extended her lead in the informal Security Council poll to assess support for candidates seeking to succeed United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to sources familiar with the confidential process.
Former Guyana Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who led in the second round of polling, retained her second position in the fourth straw poll, which involved seven candidates and was held on Tuesday.
The five permanent members of the 15-member Security Council, each with veto powers, will have the final say in selecting the candidate to lead the United Nations.
France’s Permanent Representative and Security Council President for September, Jerome Bonnafont, confirmed that the poll had taken place but said he could not disclose the results under the agreed procedure.
However, results reportedly leaked and tabulated by 1 for 8 Billion (1f8B), a group advocating fair and open elections, and Pass Blue, a media outlet covering the United Nations, showed Grynspan of Costa Rica receiving 10 positive votes, three negative votes and two neutral votes.
The tally marked an increase of one positive vote for Grynspan compared with the previous straw poll held two weeks earlier.
Rodrigues-Birkett retained the eight positive, six negative and one neutral votes she received in the third poll, after leading in the second round.
All seven candidates lobbied during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly last week. The campaign has taken place amid calls for a woman to become the next Secretary-General, as the organisation has been led exclusively by men during its 80-year history.
There is also support for a candidate from Latin America, which has not held the post since Javier Pérez de Cuellar left office in 1991. Several countries in the region, including the Caribbean, have argued that it is their turn to lead the organisation, a consideration relevant to both Grynspan and Rodrigues-Birkett.
The Security Council has around three months to select a candidate. If members remain deadlocked, they will need to determine who will lead the UN from January 1 until an agreement is reached.
Guterres has said he will not remain in office beyond the end of his term, which expires at midnight on December 31.
Under the UN Charter, the Security Council recommends a candidate for Secretary-General and forwards the nomination to the General Assembly for approval. The Assembly has historically approved the Council’s nominee.
It was not known whether any of the five permanent members had cast negative votes against Grynspan or Rodrigues-Birkett in the anonymous poll.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated at a news conference last week that Moscow did not consider the candidates suitable and suggested that other contenders could emerge.
Bonnafont said the latest poll did not use colour-coded ballots, which are introduced at a more advanced stage of the straw-poll process to distinguish votes cast by permanent members.
In the current polling procedure, Security Council members mark each candidate as “Encourage”, “Discourage” or “No Opinion”, corresponding to positive, negative and neutral responses.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi of Argentina placed third in the latest poll. He was followed by Olara Otunnu, a former UN Under-Secretary-General and Uganda’s former foreign minister, who also served as President of the Security Council.
Former Senegalese President Macky Sall, who does not have the backing of his country, finished next. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, a former President of the UN General Assembly and Ecuador’s former foreign minister, and Ivonne A-Baki, a former Ecuadorian ambassador to the United States and France, occupied the final two positions.
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