Senegal: Sall's Chances At UN Secretary-General Role Weakened After First Vote
[RFI] Antonio Guterres's successor as United Nations secretary-general will be named in October. So far, two candidates from the African continent - Senegal's Macky Sall and Uganda's Olara Otunnu - have failed to win sufficient support.
Senegal's Macky Sall and Uganda's Olara Otunnu are the two African candidates vying for the position of United Nations secretary-general, set to be announced in October. The UN's Security Council, comprising the five permanent members, conducts a series of informal straw polls to gauge support for candidates. Both Sall and Otunnu have faced challenges in gaining sufficient backing.
Sall's candidacy was weakened after the Security Council's first vote, with critics citing his controversial legacy, corruption allegations, and electoral violence. Otunnu, while respected within UN circles, arrived late to the race and faces a strained political situation in Uganda. The African Union did not support either candidate.
The UN's selection process aims to rotate leadership among the five regional blocs, favoring candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean. Current frontrunners are Rebeca Grynspan, the head of UN Trade and Development, and Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana's UN ambassador.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
