In brief
The UN Security Council, under Latvia’s presidency, carried out the eighth round of closed‑door straw polls to assess candidates for the next secretary‑general. Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica emerged as the front‑runner among the eight candidates, with the vote results to be communicated privately to nominees. The new secretary‑general will take office on 1 January 2027.
The United Nations Security Council announced Thursday that its eighth informal straw poll to gauge support for candidates to become the next secretary‑general took place during the month of November.
"The eighth round of straw polls has taken place," said Unitaí‑Pavluta‑Deslandes, the UN ambassador of Latvia and the impartial head of the council for the month. The president of the General Assembly was notified as well, the ambassador said after the secret vote concluded.
Straw polls are closed‑door ballots that ask each member to answer “encouraged,” “discouraged” or “no opinion” for a candidate. A candidate must earn at least nine encouraged votes and no discouraged votes from the five permanent members to secure the council’s recommendation to the General Assembly.
Candidates in the Eight‑th Poll
The candidates were former Ecuadorian minister and diplomat Ivonne A-Baki, former UN General Assembly president and former Ecuadorian foreign and defence minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Argentine IAEA director general Rafael Grossi, former vice‑president of Costa Rica Rebeca Grynspan, U.A.E. former ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh, Turkish ex‑Foreign Minister and OSCE secretary‑general Feridun Hadi Sinirlioglu, and two other supporting candidates from the National *Country* list (details were not released).
According to the report, Grynspan emerged as the front‑runner based on the latest round of votes. The council will send the results confidentially to each nominee’s representative. The new secretary‑general is expected to assume office on 1 January 2027, succeeding Antonio Guterres after the end of his term.
