Korean Leads Sec Gen Race

If one of the permanent five members should veto Ban Ki-Moon on Monday then the whole race would become much more fluid with new candidates being introduced at the last minute.

(Ban Ki-moon).

Ban Ki-moon, South Korea’s foreign minister, took a step closer yesterday in the race to replace Kofi Annan as Secretary-General as he increased his lead over six other candidates in the informal polling of the Security Council. 

Of the 15 Council members Ban received 13 favorable votes, one against and one undecided. Nine votes are needed to win in the final round which is expected later in October.  

India’s Shashi Tharoor came in second place with eight votes in favor, three against and four undecided; Latvia’s president Vaira Vike-Frieberga—the only woman candidate—came in third with seven votes in favor, six against and three undecided. This was followed by Thailand’s Surakiart Sathirathai, Jordan’s Prince Zeid, Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani, and Sri Lanka’s Jayantha Dhanapala.

The next informal poll is scheduled for Monday when the rules for voting give the permanent five members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States a different color voting card to indicate their veto power.  The key question is whether the one vote against Ban or his one undecided vote came from a veto-wielding country; we should learn that in the vote scheduled for Monday. If one of the permanent five members should veto Ban Ki-Moon on Monday then the whole race would become much more fluid with new candidates being introduced at the last minute.  

(Source: MaximsNews.com)

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