UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – Earlier in day, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin announced the end of the fifth round of the elections.
The fifth round of straw polling was presided over by Churkin. Guterres received 12 votes in favor and two against and one refrained vote. This result repeated the previous strawl poll on September 9. The second candidate, Serbia"s ex-Foreign Minister Vuk Eremic, received eight votes in favor, six against and one refrained vote. Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, who got eight votes in favor and seven against, appeared at the third place.
Churkin said all candidates would be informed on the results via their permanent missions.
"We came to an agreement that the next round will take place on October 5, there will be ballots (for permanent and non-permanent UNSC members) of different colors," Churkin said. This will help candidates to see if they have support of the five permanent UN members, who possess the veto right."
Current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's term ends on December 31. Historically, the Secretary-General has been selected based on an informal system of regional rotation but it is a matter of convention and not a rule.
