United Nations Secretary-General selection, 2016
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A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in October 2016 to choose the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations to succeed Ban Ki-moon from 1 January 2017. Six straw polls were held in the Security Council from 21 July 2016 to 5 October 2016. António Guterres of Portugal led the polling in every round, finishing the last round with 13 'encourage' votes, 0 'discourage' votes, and 2 abstentions. On 6 October 2016, the Security Council unanimously recommended Guterres to the General Assembly, which formally selected him by acclamation on 13 October 2016.
The 2016 selection was much more open than previous selections, with public nominations being sought and candidates participating in televised debates. Women and Eastern Europeans were favored, as no woman had ever served as Secretary-General, and the Eastern European Group was the only one of the UN Regional Groups never to have held the office. However, the two campaigns offset each other, and the selection was won by the only candidate who was neither female nor from Eastern Europe.
Article 97 of the United Nations Charter, states "The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council". As a result, the selection is subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The Charter's minimal language has since been supplemented by other procedural rules and accepted practices.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would be completing his second term on 31 December 2016, after which he would step down due to the informal two-term limit. Under the principle of regional rotation, candidates from Asia were ineligible to succeed Ban. The Eastern European Group was favored in the 2016 selection, as it was the only one of the United Nations Regional Groups never to have held the office of Secretary-General. However, tensions between Russia and the three Western European permanent members over the conflict in Ukraine raised the possibility of deadlock over an Eastern European nominee. As a result, the 2016 selection was the most open selection since 1981. Candidates from three regional groups were considered for the position: the Eastern European Group, the Western European and Others Group, and the Latin American and Caribbean Group.
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