With less than two months to go before a new Secretary-General takes office, the Security Council held its eighth straw poll to test the viability of the eight candidates vying to become the next United Nations Secretary-General.
This was the first straw poll since Turkey nominated OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu for the top job at the UN. Turkey’s move came about a week after its regional rival, the United Arab Emirates, tapped its former UN ambassador, Lana Nusseibeh, for Secretary General.
A quick reminder of how these straw polls work (and apologies for being repetitive here—but it is a convoluted process!).
All 15 members of the Council were given identical ballots to indicate whether they “encourage,” “discourage,” or have “no opinion” of each candidate. The ballots in this straw poll did not distinguish between the veto-wielding members of the Council and the other ten members, so we don’t know where these votes are coming from.
Still, th…