New UN Secretary General Selection Process is Underway

New UN Secretary General Selection Process is Underway

Joseph A. Klein,

The United Nations Security Council’s fifteen members participated in the second straw poll on August 21st to select a candidate to recommend to the General Assembly as the next UN Secretary General. He or she will succeed Antonio Guterres, whose term ends on December 31, 2026. No final selection has been made yet. At least nine votes are required for final approval of a candidate with no vote of disapproval by any of the five permanent members of the Security Council including the United States.

The straw polls are held behind closed doors. The process is opaque. There is no official record of the results. The ballots, which give the members the option of choosing “encouraged,” “discouraged,” or “no opinion expressed,” are shredded following the end of each straw poll. However, it has been reported that Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, who was nominated by Guyana on June 15th, is in the lead so far. She is currently the Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN and had previously served as Guyana’s foreign minister. Ms. Birkett’s vision statement is full of generalities, but we know from prior statements of hers to the Security Council regarding the Middle East that she is anti-Israel. On one occasion, in 2024, she accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

The other current candidates for the highest-level UN position are:

• Ivonne A-Baki (Ecuador), who was nominated by Tonga on August 17th;

• Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Chile), who was nominated by Brazil, Chile, and Mexico on February 2nd, with Chile withdrawing its nomination on March 24th;

• María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador), who was nominated by Antigua and Barbuda on May 11th;

• Rafael Mariano Grossi (Argentina), who was nominated by Argentina on November 26, 2025;

• Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (Costa Rica), who was nominated by Costa Rica on March 3rd;

• Olara Otunnu (Uganda), who was nominated by Uganda on July 24th; and

• Macky Sall (Senegal), who was nominated by Burundi on March 2nd.

The candidates have held interactive dialogues with the UN General Assembly and informal dialogues with the Security Council. One of the candidates, however--Olara Otunnu --participated in the dialogues only after having appeared on the Security Council ballot in the first straw poll, which drew criticism for violating precedent.

United Nations General Assembly President, Annalena Baerbock of Germany, was among the critics. She signed a letter to the Security Council last month that encouraged “the Security Council to include in its process of consideration of candidacies only those candidates who have already been heard by the General Assembly in an interactive dialogue.” In a follow-up letter, she wrote that “I reiterate the expectation of the wider membership that any candidate should first be heard by the General Assembly in an interactive dialogue before being considered by the Security Council in its straw polls.” The Security Council disregarded her objection and proceeded with its straw polls.

Ms. Baerbock had overstepped her authority by interfering in the Security Council’s selection process. In an address to the Security Council on August 19th, Jennifer Locetta, the U.S. alternative representative for special political affairs at the United Nations, chastised Ms. Baerbock for “overreach and irresponsible actions.”

That said, much more than proper procedure is at stake in the Secretary General selection process. The Trump administration must say no to any candidate with a socialist record, who espouses globalist governance and anti-Americanism, or who evidences anti-Israel bias such as Ms. Birkett did when she accused Israel of genocide.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Friday that the selection would be "a test for the future of the United Nations," adding that "The next Secretary-General must restore the credibility the UN has lost, not perpetuate the failures that brought it to this point."