Antonio Guterres to be UN Secretary General: Portugal Former PM, Antonio Guterres is all set to be the next UN Secretary-General. The Security Council unanimously reached this decision on Wednesday. It is expected that his name will be officially recommended to the General-Assembly on Thursday.
Secret Ballots were being held informally since long to reach a consensus regarding the next candidate for the post of Sec-Gen. Antonio Guterres’s name came up on Wednesday as the most preferred candidate with 13 ‘encourage’ votes and 2 ‘no opinion’ votes.
In April, Antonio Guterres had said in a meeting to General Assembly, “The best place to address the root cause of the human suffering is at the center of the UN system.”
Antonio Guterres has remained the United Nations High Commissioner for the Refugees for the duration June 2005 to December 2015. The present UN Secretary-General, Ban-Ki-Moon (Soth Korea) will be completing his term in the office at the end of this year and Antonio Guterres will be the ninth Sec-Gen of the UN replacing him.
The UN Ambassador of Russia, Vitaly Churkin said that he hopes for Guterres’s name will being unanimously suggested to the General-Assembly. Vitaly Churkin said in a press report, “Today after the sixth straw poll we have a clear favorite and his name is Antonio Guterres“. he further added that they wish him well for handling his duties with great care and diligence.
“In the end, there was just a candidate whose experience, vision, and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling,” said the US Ambassador on Guterres achieving maximum votes for the candidature.
By now, Antonio Guterres has fared quite well in the polls and has received a strong support regarding the recommendation of his name for the candidature. However, in the fifth poll he received two ‘discourage’ votes. But in the sixth poll, held on Friday, he was able to bag 13 votes in his favor.
The polls are by far in the favor of Antonio Guterres to be UN Secretary General.
