United Arab Emirates proposes candidate for UN Secretary-General

Othe United Arab Emirates presented today the candidacy of Lana Nusseibeh, senior official of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UN Secretary-General, when none of the current candidates generates consensus to succeed António Guterres.

“ I am a candidate for the position of Secretary-General because I believe that the time has come to act more urgently: to intervene earlier, to unite people beyond their differences and to advance to the achievement of concrete results,” Lana Nusseibeh said in a statement.

The diplomat holds the office of Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and special envoy to the UN and the European Union. From 2013 to 2024, she was Ambassador of the United Nations.

According to a geographical tradition not always respected, Latin America claims the position this time.

Many countries also call for a woman to take command of the UN for the first time.

The permanent members of the Security Council vetoed all current candidates as UN Secretary-General in an informal vote held on Friday.

In the indicative vote, none of the seven candidates managed to avoid a negative vote from the five powers — Britain, France, the United States, China and Russia — paving the way for the emergence of likely new candidates.

In the sixth closed-door vote (known as Straw Poll), and which should be the last consultation, the 15 members anonymously assigned a rating to each candidate: “encourage”, “descorate” or “without opinion”.

For the first time in the votes over the last few months, the voting papers of the five permanent members have been identified by a specific colour. In a formal vote, the veto of one of them is sufficient for ‘lead’ of the candidate and it is not recommended for UN Secretary-General.

Until now, he was leading the race to 70-year-old Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan — who headed the UN Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD).

With nine “encourage” votes, Rebecca Grynspan remained in the lead, but today she also received five “disheartening” votes — two from permanent members — and one “without opinion”.

According to the specialized portal PassBlue, the United States and the United Kingdom voted against Grynspan.

The current director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the 65-year-old Argentinean Rafael Grossi, with 8 votes in favour, six against (including two permanent members) and one neutral, emerges.

Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Ambassador of Guyana to the UN, took the same vote, but three votes for permanent members, against two from Grossi.

Portuguese António Guterres, 77 years old, will leave office on January 1, 2027, after two consecutive mandates and the result of this consultation keeps the door open for other countries to submit new candidates.

So far, four women and three men seek to succeed Guterres.

The political news website recently reported that the United States was against all current UN leadership candidates.

The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, avoided responding directly when confronted with information, but did not deny it.

The UN is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, faced with the multiplication of conflicts, persistent divisions in the Security Council and serious financial difficulties.