UN holds second informal poll for next leader

Forti said the veto-wielding nations – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – might wait until later to express their preferences, while new contenders could emerge.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said Thursday he could not rule out that possibility.

“If, for example – I’m speculating now – if there is a deadlock on any of the candidates we are seeing today, if nobody … flies, then I think that we may see other candidates as well,” Nebenzia said.

“END OF THE ROAD”?

Even if a candidate earns the required nine votes from the 15 available in the Security Council, they must also avoid a veto by the five major powers, which are deeply divided.

Once a candidate clears those bars, their name will go to the General Assembly of all UN members for confirmation.

The Security Council straw poll was devised in the early 1980s in an attempt to break a deadlock between two candidates shut down by vetoes.

The informal mechanism has persisted, in various forms, despite criticism from countries opposed to the opaque process.

“There is a good chance that some nominees realise after (Friday’s) vote that their campaigns have reached the end of the road,” Forti added.