Macky Sall withdraws from UN Secretary-General race

Former Senegalese President Macky Sall has withdrawn his candidacy for United Nations Secretary-General. According to Capital FM Kenya, Sall announced his decision on Saturday following a sixth informal Security Council straw poll held on October 16. In that poll, all seven candidates received at least one “discourage” vote from a permanent member of the 15-member Security Council.

Sall stated he took the decision with a sense of responsibility to help the emergence of a consensus candidate within the Security Council. He noted that straw poll results indicated a preference for a candidate from the Latin American and Caribbean region, potentially a woman. Sall said his decision followed consultations with Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye and Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who is the current chairperson of the African Union.

Premium Times reported that Nigeria had previously objected to the African Union’s designation of Sall as the bloc’s consensus candidate for the position.

Brief written by urgent.news from Premium Times, Capital FM Kenya — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.