UN: Economist daughter of Holocaust survivors is the leading candidate

First exploratory poll in the Security Council gives the lead to Rebecca Greenspan, former vice president of Costa Rica • In second place: former foreign minister of Guyana • Ambassador Danny Danon: “The next secretary-general must fight the institutional anti-Semitism that is entrenched in the UN”

Will a woman of Jewish origin be the first in history to head the international organization? An initial, unofficial exploratory poll conducted last night (Thursday) at the United Nations Security Council marks Rebecca Greenspan, former vice president of Costa Rica, as the leading favorite to be the next UN secretary-general, Reuters reports.

According to the news agency, Greenspan, a respected economist born to Jewish parents who fled Europe after surviving the Holocaust, won 10 votes in favor, one against and four abstentions out of the 15 members of the Security Council. In the 80 years of the UN’s existence, a woman has never served as secretary-general, and it has never been headed by a person of Jewish origin.

The various candidates are competing to replace the incumbent secretary-general, Portuguese Antonio Guterres, who will end his term at the end of the year after serving two five-year terms.

Close at the top: Former ministers and IAEA chief

In second place in the initial poll was former Guyana Foreign Minister Caroline Rodriguez-Birkett, with 9 votes in favor, 2 against and 4 abstentions – a result that diplomats described as the “surprise of the vote”. In third place was Argentine Rafael Grossi, who currently heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with 7 votes in favor, 2 against and 6 abstentions.

Photo: Reuters

Other candidates on the list include former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet (6 in favor, 5 against), former Senegalese President Macky Sall (6 in favor, 7 against), former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa (5 in favor, 2 against) and Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunno (2 in favor, 5 against).

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon commented on the upcoming elections and said that the next Secretary-General “must remember that the UN was established to serve all member states equally, and must confront the institutional anti-Semitism that has taken root in parts of the UN system.”

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walz | Photo: Reuters

In Washington, expectations for the next leader were also made clear. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walz noted: “We need a Secretary-General who will refresh this institution, make it leaner, more tailored to its purpose and more relevant in the international arena.”

There is still a long way to go: How does the selection mechanism work?

The vote held last night is just the first shot in a series of secret exploratory surveys (“Straw polls”). At this stage, all the voting cards of the 15 council members are identical, so it is not possible to tell whether the opposing votes came from one of the five permanent members of the council (the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France) – which hold the right of veto.

UN General Assembly | Photo: Reuters

At a later stage, the five powers will use voting cards of a different color, which will reveal whether a particular candidate has been vetoed by one of them. To win the Security Council’s recommendation, the candidate must obtain at least 9 votes in favor and zero veto votes. After that, the recommendation is forwarded to the UN General Assembly for approval.

Experts estimate that this is a lengthy process that is expected to continue into September and October, with additional candidates likely to join the race in the coming weeks.