Security Council set to approve Korean for UN top job

The UN Security Council votes today on a successor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon is virtually certain to be the council’s candidate – but that is just the first key hurdle.

Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council makes a recommendation for the next secretary-general to the 192-member General Assembly, which must give final approval.

Ban, 62, topped four informal polls in the council, and in the last one he was the only candidate not to get a veto by one of the five permanent council members. After that result, the five other candidates dropped out of the race.

So when council members meet behind closed doors at 2.30pm British time, Ban will be the only candidate on the ballot.

The vote coincides with North Korea’s announcement it had conducted a nuclear test.

The timing is certain to increase speculation that North Korea wanted to express its displeasure and opposition to Ban’s expected selection as the Security Council’s candidate to succeed Annan.

In last Monday’s straw poll, Ban won 14 favourable votes and one expressing no opinion. Most importantly, he won the support of the council’s five veto-wielding nations – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US.

If Ban prevails in Monday’s formal council vote and is then approved by the General Assembly – which is widely expected – his selection will have been marked by unprecedented speed, consensus and calm.

In past years, the choice of a UN chief, including Annan, has often meant rancorous negotiations, numerous ballots and handshake deals.

The other candidates in the fourth straw poll were UN Undersecretary-General Shashi Tharoor of India, who came in second, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Frieberga, former Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, Jordan’s UN Ambassador Zeid al-Hussein and Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani.

Sri Lanka’s Jayantha Dhanapala, a former UN disarmament chief, withdrew after a poor showing in the third informal poll.