The United Nations has begun informal briefings to screen prospective successors of South Korea's Ban Ki Moon as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. As the position remains in debate, Argentina's Foreign Minister Susann Malcorra addressed rumors that President Mauricio Macri will nominate her.
Malcorra stated the Latin America is also considering the issue of the next UN leadership since there are "many candidates in the mix," The Washington Post reported.
"I'm sure there will be a point where Latin America will come together and most likely have a view on this, and we shall see," Malcorra said, who did not clarify whether President Macri has indeed sponsored her for the position or not.
When asked if she would accept the nomination, Malcorra said, "I love this organization. I deeply believe that this organization is more needed today than ever before."
Before serving as Argentina's foreign minister, Malcorra was a former UN undersecretary-general and chief of staff to current Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
As per the United Nations, there are currently 9 nominees for the UN top post, all of which has faced some 800 questions from UN delegates and the public as to how they would "lead the world body" if selected.
"My impression is - of course my experience is short - but during the months I've been here, we never had that frank and substantial discussion about the future of the United Nations as the one we got during these informal dialogues," UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft said about the dialogue with the candidates.
Lykketoft said the candidates presented their "vision statements" and also identified the pressing flaws of the Uinted Nations. They were also able to present a blueprint of how they plan "to do things ever better."
As a new standard of transparency, each candidate was given a two-hour televised and webcast timeslot to present themselves and their platforms.
The candidates that appeared before the General Assembly include Igot Luksic (Montenegro), Irina Bokova (Bulgaria), Antonio Guterres (Slovenia), Danillo Turk (Slovenia), Vesna Pusic (Croatia), Natalia Gherman (Moldova), Vuk Jeremic (Serbia), Helen Clark (New Zealand) and Srgjan Kerim (Yugoslavia).
The 15-member Security Council will vote on who to recommend for UN's top post, and the 193-member General Assembly will then vote to accept the nominee or not.
According to Voice of America, the Security Council will begin discussions on their recommendation in July. A new secretary-general may be declared as late as November, just a month before incumbent Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon ends his 10-year term in Dec. 31.
Traditionally, the secretary-general seat is rotated among regions, but there are some key points that could influence how the votes turn out. East European nations, which includes Security Council member Russia, contend that they have never had a security-general and that it's their turn. There's also mounting pressure to elect the United Nations' first female secretary-general.
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