The United Nations Security Council will hold an initial round of informal closed-door “straw poll” ballots on July 30 to assess support for the seven candidates currently vying to become the next head of the United Nations.

The candidates, from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Senegal and Uganda, are seeking to replace Antonio Guterres of Portugal when he steps down at the end of 2026 after two five-year terms.

Guterres’ successor faces the task of revitalising an organisation in crisis and declining stature that is under increasing pressure to reform a bloated, costly bureaucracy and cut duplication across its many agencies.

Straw polls are informal, non-binding votes conducted among the Security Council’s 15 members. They are asked whether they “encourage”, “discourage” or have “no opinion” on each candidate.

The ballots are secret and only Council members are present during the exercise.

There is no clear front-runner and historical precedent suggests multiple rounds of polling could continue through the summer and conclude in late September or early October. The process could take longer if no consensus candidate emerges.

The current candidates are:

Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, head of the UN nuclear watchdog
Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet
Former Costa Rican vice-president Rebeca Grynspan
Former Ecuadorian foreign minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa
Former Guyanese foreign minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett
Former Senegalese president Macky Sall
Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, who entered the race last week.

Other candidates can still join the contest.

In the early rounds of straw polls, identical ballots are cast, allowing diplomats to see overall levels of support and opposition without revealing whether negative votes came from one of the Council’s five veto-wielding permanent members – China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States.

At a later stage, P5 members use a different colour from elected members that reveals whether a candidate has received a “discourage” vote from one of them.

The Security Council ultimately adopts a resolution, traditionally behind closed doors, recommending an appointment to the 193-member UN General Assembly. This needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes and subsequent General Assembly approval has long been seen as a rubber stamp.

The current Security Council president is the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its UN ambassador, Zenon Mukongo Ngay, confirmed to reporters on July 28 that the first round of straw polls would take place on the morning of July 30.

He said Otunnu would be included, even though he has yet to take part in informal hearings completed by other candidates.

Otunnu’s CV states that he invented the system of straw polls to choose a new secretary-general while president of the Security Council in 1981. REUTERS

UN to hold informal polls for new UN chief from July 30