The game of the privileged.

At the UN, the selection process for the new Secretary-General officially began with four candidates introducing themselves to the General Assembly on April 22 and 23.

The selection process for a new UN Secretary-General has begun to replace António Guterres, whose term is about to end.

Photo: Reuters

Of course, other candidates can still run. The only difference is that, procedurally speaking, the election is conducted by the General Assembly, but in reality, the General Assembly only elects the candidate who has been unanimously agreed upon by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

This year's UN Secretary-General election is no different. The candidate for UN Secretary-General is expected to be from Latin America. Of the four current candidates, three are from this region: Michelle Bachelet (former President of Chile), Rafael Grossi (Argentine diplomat , currently Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency), and Rebeca Grynspan (former Second Vice President of Costa Rica, currently Secretary-General of the UN Trade and Development Organization). The fourth is Macky Sall (former President of Senegal).

Recently, Russia has strongly demanded that the new UN Secretary-General be from Eastern Europe, arguing that Eastern Europe is also a geopolitical region and that no Secretary-General has ever come from Eastern Europe. There has also long been a strong demand within the UN for the first-ever female Secretary-General. Russia, China, the UK, and France do not oppose this demand, but the US insists that the deciding criterion should be competence, not gender.

The members of the UN Security Council all want "their own person" to become the UN Secretary-General. Meanwhile, the current global context is very complex due to conflicting interests between the US, China, and Russia. Therefore, this year's election for the UN Secretary-General will be a fierce competition between these two factions. All three countries mentioned above will likely not accept Ms. Bachelet, while Russia and China will likely not agree with Mr. Grossi. Therefore, the two sides may compromise on the remaining two candidates; otherwise, a new candidate may emerge at the last minute.

How does the United Nations choose its new Secretary-General?

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cuoc-choi-cua-ke-dac-quyen-18526042221202672.htm