New Zealand to Have Russia Manage Voting for UN Secretary General

New Zealand has made the decision to have Russia manage the voting for a new UN Secretary General in September, Gerard van Bohemen, New Zealand's permanent representative at the UN, has confirmed.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – New Zealand will preside over the UN Security Council in September and will still oversee the meetings to discuss the ballots, according to van Bohemen.

"New Zealand has chosen to do this to counter any conflict-of-interest perception issues given we also have a candidate," van Bohemen said on Saturday, as quoted by The New Zealand Herald.

The decision to give Russia the responsibility to carry out the polls is linked to the fact that New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark is one of the candidates for the post of UN Secretary General.

The term of current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ends on December 31, 2016.