Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is still the front-runner to become the next United Nations Secretary-General after a second UN Security Council secret ballot on Friday, said diplomats.
The 15-member council cast a ballot for each of the 11 candidates, and the choice is encourage, discourage or no opinion. Guterres received 11 encourage, two discourage and two no opinions, diplomats said. In the first poll on July 21, Guterres received 12 encourages and three no opinions.
Former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic moved up to second with eight encourage, four discourage and three no opinion, edging out Argentinian Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra who got eight encourage, six discourage and one no opinion.
Former Slovenian President Danilo Turk dropped to fourth from second with seven encourage, five discourage and three no opinion, while Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, director-general of U.N. cultural organisation UNESCO took fifth spot.