On Oct. 5, the U.N. Security Council held the sixth round of informal straw polls — but the first in which red ballots were used for the five permanent members (P5) to distinguish them from the white ballots for the 10 elected members — to gauge support for the 10 remaining candidates to succeed Ban Ki-moon as the ninth United Nations secretary-general on Jan. 1. The UNSC president, Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, came out with all other UNSC members to announce agreement on Antonio Guterres. His final vote was 13 yes, none opposed and two undecided. The council met again the next day to formally approve his nomination unanimously for transmission to the General Assembly, where it was ratified by acclamation last week.
The office of the secretary-general combines the role of politician, diplomat and public-sector CEO. His single most important role is to provide leadership, making others connect emotionally and intellectually to a larger cause in the name of our common humanity that transcends their immediate self-interest.
As the U.N.'s chief administrative officer, the secretary-general has to manage, direct and coordinate the unwieldy and sprawling U.N. system that embraces 16 peace operations and a large number of agencies around the world, including the U.N. University headquartered in Tokyo. He has to implement the normative and operational mandates entrusted by the UNSC and the General Assembly with a wide margin of delegated authority.