Update Report No. 1: Appointment of a New Secretary-General

Second Ballot in the Security Council and Progress in the General Assembly

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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.)

Previous SCR Publications on the Secretary-General Appointment

• Update Report: Appointment of a New Secretary-General (7 July 2006) reported the start of the selection process in July and the Council decisions on the way the selection process would proceed in 2006.
• Special Research Report No. 2: Appointment of the UN Secretary-General (21 June 2006) gave an overview of the Canadian initiative to reform the selection process and the developments during March-May within the General Assembly and the Council on this issue.
• Special Research Report No. 1: Appointment of a New Secretary-General (16 February 2006) described the history of past appointments, discussed the processes used for appointing previous Secretary-Generals and described the decisions taken by the General Assembly in 1997 regarding the introduction of new appointment procedures.

The Candidates
1. Ban Ki-moon from Korea, currently Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (click here for biography); first straw poll results: 12 encouragements, one discouragement, two “no opinion”

2. Shashi Tharoor from India, currently UN Under Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information (click here for biography); first straw poll results: ten encouragements, two discouragements, three “no opinion”

3. Surakiart Sathirathai from Thailand, currently Deputy Prime Minister (click here for biography); first straw poll results: seven encouragements, three discouragements, five “no opinion”

4. Jayantha Dhanapala from Sri Lanka, currently Senior Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka (click here for biography); first straw poll results: five encouragements, six discouragements, four “no opinion”

5. Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein from Jordan, currently Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (click here for biography); first straw poll results: N/A

There are also unconfirmed reports of a sixth candidate nominated by Fiji. Details are being checked. The candidate is Niranjan Deva-Aditya from Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom, currently a Member of European Parliament (click here for biography-can be downloaded in word, right under the picture of a world map); first straw poll results: N/A

Outcome of the Initiative to Reform the Selection Process
After a marathon negotiating session over the Labor Day weekend in New York, agreement was finally reached on proposals to be included in the General Assembly resolution on Revitalization of the General Assembly, expected to be adopted in the Plenary in the dying hours of the 60th Session on 8 September.

The outcome is a modest, but useful first step towards reform of the selection process. Paragraphs 17-22 of the draft resolution pick up and substantially repeat the key elements of resolution 51/241 of 1997 and resolution 11(I) of 1946. However, there are some new elements:

• emphasis of “the need for the process to be inclusive to all member states”;
• some clarification of the role for the President of the General Assembly, which was mentioned in resolution 51/241. The President is now actively “encouraged” to consult General Assembly members to identify candidates (as opposed to previously where it was said that the President “may” consult). As before it is envisaged that the President would present the results of such consultation to the Security Council;
• an “invitation” to the Security Council to “regularly update” the General Assembly;
• emphasis that candidates should possess and display inter alia “commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, extensive leadership, administrative and diplomatic experience”; and
• candidates are encouraged to present formal candidatures in sufficient time for interaction with member states and are requested “to present their views to all member states of the General Assembly”.

There is no change in the process in terms of:

• selection of “the best candidate” with “due regard” being given to “regional rotation” and “gender equality”;
• the term of office;
• the need for a candidate to be “endorsed by a member state”; and
• the desirable timing of the appointment.

An interesting feature of the new language that has been agreed is that, to a large extent, it reflects what had begun to happen in practice. Already in June, July and August, several of the candidates had participated in meetings of the General Assembly regional groups, or cross group meetings such as the Forum of Small States and presented their views and vision to all member states.

The impact of the resolution on the 2006 appointment is likely to be minimal, although it may put pressure on new candidates to undertake presentations to the wider UN membership, as well as to the Council members.

The principal changes the resolution brings to the process for the future are ones of emphasis and relate mainly to an earlier stage in the process, before the Security Council begins its decision making phase. The question will be whether, as in 1997, the interest in this subject disappears after the appointment is made, or whether it continues as an integral element of General Assembly revitalisation discussions.

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