On Friday, the major powers failed to agree on a candidate to succeed Antonio Guterres as head of the UN, opening the door to possible new candidacies.
Four women and three men are currently vying to succeed the 77-year-old Portuguese, who will end December 31 his second five-year term at the head of this institution plagued by crises and divisions.
At the end of a vote that is still only indicative, none of the seven managed to escape a negative vote from one of the five major powers (Britain, France, the United States, China and Russia) among the fifteen that make up the Council.
So far, Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, 70, who headed the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), was leading the race.
During Friday’s vote, held behind closed doors, the member states anonymously assigned each candidate a designation: “encourage”, “discourage” or “no opinion”.
For the first time since the start of this complex and opaque electoral process, the vote of the five permanent members appeared in color.
Who is the new candidate then?
With nine “encourage”, Rebeca Grynspan remains at the head of this ballot, but she has also received five “discourage”, including two from permanent members, and one “no opinion”.
Behind her comes the current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Argentinian Rafael Grossi, 65, with 8 “encourage”, six “discourage” including two permanent members, and one “no opinion”.
In third place is Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, 53, former foreign minister of Guyana (8-6-1), followed by the former UN special representative for children and armed conflict, the Ugandan Olara Otunnu, 76 (4-10-1).
At the back of the pack are former Senegalese president Macky Sall, 64 (5-10-0), former Ecuadorian foreign minister and defense minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, 62 (3-9-3), and Ecuadorian diplomat Ivonne A-Baki, 75 (1-14-0).
At any time, a new candidate may come forward.
Among the names circulating are notably the Bulgarian Nikolai Mladenov, the top envoy for Gaza to the “Peace Council” set up by Donald Trump, or Lana Nusseibeh, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs of the United Arab Emirates.
According to a geographic tradition not always observed, Latin America is claiming the post this time. Many countries are also pushing for a woman to lead the UN for the first time.
In 1996, “Kofi Annan was not a candidate and he appeared one day before being elected,” a diplomatic source recently recalled.
