The former Portuguese Prime.Minister, António Guterres, is poised to become the next UN Secretary. A formal vote will take place in the UN Security
Council tomorrow to confirm the choice of nominee.
Mr Guterres, 66 years old, was the "clear favourite",
Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin announced this Wednesday. Mr Guterres, who led the UN refugee agency for 10
years, will take over from Ban Ki-moon early next year.
Who is António Guterres?
An engineer by trade, Mr Guterres first entered into politics in 1976 in Portugal's first democratic election after the "Carnation revolution" that ended five decades of dictatorship. He quickly rose in the ranks, becoming leader of the Socialist party in 1992 and was elected prime minister in 1995.
As head of the UNHCR
refugee agency from 2005 to 2015, Mr Guterres led the agency through some of
the world's worst refugee crises, including Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq.
During that time, he
repeatedly appealed to Western states to do more to help refugees fleeing the
conflicts.
Former Portuguese
President Anibal Cavaco Silva said earlier this year that Mr Guterres had
"left a legacy" at the refugee agency "that means today he is a
respected voice and all the world listens to him", according to the AFP
news agency.
How is he appointed?
The 15-member Security Council cast secret ballots for
each of the 10 candidates on Wednesday and none were found to oppose Mr
Guterres.
They were asked to select from a choice of
'encourage', 'discourage' or 'no opinion' for each candidate, with the former
Portuguese prime minister receiving 13 'encourage' votes and two 'no opinion'
votes.
He beat nine other candidates, including EU budget
commissioner Kristalina Georgieva from Bulgaria, to become the next UN chief.
Credits: BBC NEWS
Credits: BBC NEWS
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