Appointment of the Secretary-General
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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s first term in office is due to expire on 31 December 2011. No alternative candidate has emerged and it appears likely that the Security Council will recommend that he will be reappointed to a second term. At this stage some key Security Council members (both permanent and elected) have publicly indicated support for Ban’s reappointment. Others, including some of the P5, have not yet expressed their positions. But there is no evidence of any emerging opposition to a second term by any P5 member. This is important because of the key role played by the P5 members, any of whom may veto a decision to recommend reappointment of the Secretary-General. There are no formal requirements for the timing of reappointment decisions. (The last reappointment decision by the Security Council was in 2001 when Kofi Annan was recommended for a second term by acclamation. This occurred on 27 June 2001 in a closed private meeting.) This report outlines the main processes guiding the appointment of a Secretary-General and recalls a number of recent proposals for reforming the selection and appointment process. It does not traverse in detail the history of procedures for contested elections since it seems unlikely that the 2011 decision will be contested. Readers may find these details in reports by Security Council Report in 2006 in the lead-up to the appointment of the current Secretary-General
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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's first term in office is due to expire on 31 December 2011. No alternative candidate has emerged and it appears likely that the Security Council will recommend that he will be reappointed to a second term. At this stage some key Security Council members (both permanent and elected) have publicly indicated support for Ban's reappointment. Others, including some of the P5, have not yet expressed their positions. But there is no evidence of any emerging opposition to a second term by any P5 member. This is important because of the key role played by the P5 members, any of whom may veto a decision to recommend reappointment of the Secretary-General. There are no formal requirements for the timing of reappointment decisions. (The last reappointment decision by the Security Council was in 2001 when Kofi Annan was recommended for a second term by acclamation. This occurred on 27 June 2001 in a closed private meeting.) This report outlines the main processes guiding the appointment of a Secretary-General and recalls a number of recent proposals for reforming the selection and appointment process. It does not traverse in detail the history of procedures for contested elections since it seems unlikely that the 2011 decision will be contested.
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Russia, as Security Council's president for January, has proposed for Monday, 8 January, a public debate on Threats to International Peace and Security. The main purpose is to provide the new UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with an occasion to formally address the Council for the first time.
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The Security Council is preparing for a second round of balloting for the selection of a new Secretary-General. The next ballot will be held on 14 September under the same procedures as the first round of balloting which was held on 24 July 2006. (A third ballot may be held towards the end of the month. The procedure for that ballot remains to be discussed.)
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The Security Council has confirmed its earlier decision - reported in our Special Research Report of 21 June 2006 (See also our Special Research Report of February 2006) - to begin the actual selection process for the new Secretary-General in the month of July.
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On 16 February 2006 Security Council Report published a Special Research Report titled, Appointment of a New Secretary-General. It described the past history of appointments and discussed the processes used for appointing previous Secretary-Generals. It also described the decisions taken by the United Nations General Assembly in 1997 regarding the introduction of new appointment procedures when the time came to appoint a successor to Kofi Annan. In the three months since February there have been a number of important developments, both in the Security Council and the General Assembly. There were even indications in May and early June that the General Assembly and the Security Council may have been on a collision path. At time of writing, however, it seems that the prospects of a contentious vote in the General Assembly have receded. This Special Research Report looks at the issues that have arisen and what this means for the 2006 selection process which now seems set to commence in July.
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The most important decision that the Security Council will take in 2006 will be the selection of the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. The decision will be of major importance for the future of the United Nations, coming as it does in the midst of a protracted and increasingly rancorous debate over the reform of the sixty-year-old organisation and how to adapt it to respond better to the challenges of the twenty-first century. As the time for the appointment decision approaches, Security Council Report will analyse and preview specific developments, Council dynamics and possible options. At this early stage, our purpose in writing this Special Research Report is to provide relevant factual background on the history, process and procedure; because it seems that Council members are beginning to discuss those issues, at least informally.
