New York: Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has withdrawn her candidacy to become the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, ending her bid to become the first woman to lead the world body.
Bachelet, 74, announced her decision in a video posted on Instagram, saying she had decided not to continue her candidacy. She added that she did not regret taking on the challenge, while acknowledging that the timing may not have been right for the type of candidacy she sought to represent.
Her withdrawal followed the latest informal straw poll by the 15-member UN Security Council, held on September 18. Bachelet received one encourage vote, compared with 11 discourage votes and three no opinion responses. Her support had declined from six encourage votes in July and two in August.
View this post on Instagram
The third poll placed Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan at the top with nine encourage votes, followed by Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett with eight. Other candidates in the race include IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, former Senegalese President Macky Sall and Ecuadorian diplomat Maria Fernanda Espinosa.
Bachelet was nominated by Chile earlier this year and received backing from Brazil and Mexico.
Her departure leaves the selection process without her candidacy, while the broader push for a woman from Latin America to take the UN’s top post continues. No woman has previously served as UN Secretary-General in the organisation’s 80-year history.
The next secretary-general will succeed António Guterres, whose second term ends on December 31, 2026. The successful candidate must first secure a recommendation from the Security Council, requiring at least nine votes and no veto from any of its five permanent members, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States before appointment by the General Assembly.
The selection comes as the UN prepares for its annual General Assembly high-level session, with the organisation facing major geopolitical, financial and humanitarian challenges. World leaders are due to gather in New York as the search for Guterres’s successor continues.
MOST READ | BOJ raises interest rate to highest level since 1995
