How the UN Secretary-General is chosen, and why all seven candidates have hit a veto
The Security Council's sixth straw poll left every candidate with a 'discourage' vote from a permanent member, and Macky Sall has quit the race. How the selection works, what a straw poll is, and what happens if the deadlock holds past December.
The short answer
Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the General Assembly appoints the Secretary-General on the recommendation of the Security Council. In practice the 15 Council members hold a series of informal, secret straw polls in which they 'encourage', 'discourage' or express 'no opinion' on each candidate. A candidate needs at least nine votes and no objection from any of the five permanent members, whose votes are marked on coloured ballots in later rounds. In the sixth poll on 16 October 2026 all seven candidates drew a permanent member's 'discourage', so no one can yet be recommended, with Antonio Guterres's term ending on 31 December.
Who chooses the UN Secretary-General?
Formally the General Assembly, but only on the Security Council’s recommendation.
Article 97 of the UN Charter is one sentence long: “The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.” The Assembly, all 193 members, has the last word, but it can only vote on the name the Council sends it. It has never turned down a recommendation, and usually approves it by acclamation.
So the real contest happens among the Council’s 15 members: the five permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and 10 elected ones.
What is a straw poll?
An informal, secret vote that lets the Council see who could win before it votes for real.
In 1981 the Council deadlocked over 16 rounds of formal ballots. Its president that month, Olara Otunnu of Uganda, devised an informal method to break the stalemate, and Peru’s Javier Perez de Cuellar emerged. That method became the straw poll.
In each round, members mark every candidate “encourage”, “discourage” or “no opinion”. The results are shared privately, though tallies usually leak within hours. A candidate needs at least nine “encourage” votes and no objection from a permanent member.
Why do colours matter?
Because they show whether a “discourage” came from a country with a veto.
In the early rounds all 15 members use identical ballots, so nobody knows whether a “discourage” came from France or from an elected member. Later, the permanent members switch to coloured ballots. A single coloured “discourage” is in effect a veto, and usually the end of a candidacy. In Friday’s sixth poll every one of the seven candidates drew at least one.
“It’s really the decision of the P3 that this will rest on,” Georgina Holmes of the Open University said in September, referring to the United States, Britain and France.
How the 2016 race ran
- 15 Dec 2015Council and Assembly presidents send a joint letter inviting nominations
- 12-14 Apr 2016Candidates take questions from member states in public dialogues
- 21 Jul 2016First of six Security Council straw polls
- 5 Oct 2016Sixth poll, with coloured ballots: no permanent member discourages Antonio Guterres
- 6 Oct 2016Council recommends Guterres in resolution 2311
- 13 Oct 2016General Assembly appoints him
What changed after 2016?
The process became more public. Until 2015, candidates were barely seen. A General Assembly resolution that year required a joint letter inviting nominations, a public list of candidates and open question sessions with member states. Since 2021, a candidate must be nominated by at least one country, and a 2025 resolution asks candidates to disclose who funds their campaigns. A proposal for a single seven-year term was not adopted, so the post still carries a five-year term, and holders have by custom served no more than two.
Is it Latin America’s turn?
By convention, yes, though no rule says so. The job has rotated loosely between regions. Latin America and the Caribbean have had one Secretary-General, Perez de Cuellar, and most of this year’s field comes from there: Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi and Ecuador’s Ivonne A-Baki and Maria Fernanda Espinosa. Uganda’s Otunnu, the man who invented the straw poll, is the only African left after Macky Sall’s withdrawal. The Eastern European group has never produced a Secretary-General, and no woman has ever held the post. Nationals of the permanent members are, by custom, ruled out.
What happens now?
More polls, and possibly new names. Countries can still nominate candidates, as Bulgaria did with Kristalina Georgieva as late as September 2016. US Ambassador Mike Waltz said last week that states were within their “sovereign rights” to do so, and names such as Nickolay Mladenov and the UAE’s Lana Nusseibeh are being mentioned. Past deadlocks have been broken by a late compromise candidate. If none emerges before Guterres leaves on 31 December, the UN would face a gap at the top that its rules do not clearly provide for.