UN secretary-general race faces second straw poll

The UN Security Council is due to hold a second informal straw poll on August 21 to assess candidates seeking to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general.

Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan was the front-runner after the first informal vote. Other candidates include Argentina's Rafael Grossi, who heads the UN nuclear watchdog, Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador's Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Uganda's Olara Otunnu and Senegal's Macky Sall. Ecuador's Ivonne A-Baki joined the race after the first round.

The council's 15 members privately mark each candidate as "encourage," "discourage" or "no opinion." A candidate needs nine Security Council votes and must avoid a veto by Britain, China, France, Russia or the United States before the name goes to the UN General Assembly for confirmation.

Daniel Forti of the International Crisis Group said diplomats expect changes from the July poll and will watch whether early front-runners consolidate support or slip. He said it is unlikely that any candidate will emerge from Friday's poll with a decisive lead.

Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said he could not rule out more candidates joining if the current field reaches a deadlock.

The straw-poll system was devised in the early 1980s to break a veto deadlock and has continued despite criticism from countries opposed to the opaque process. By tradition, the UN's top job rotates between regions, which points this time toward a candidate from Latin America, though Sall and Otunnu are from Africa.