The United Nations Security Council on Thursday unanimously nominated former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres to be the next Secretary-General, recommending that the 193-member General Assembly appoint him for five years from Jan. 1, 2017. The council's recommendation now goes to the U.N.'s 193-member General Assembly, which is expected to vote on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's successor next week. Prior to Wednesday's vote, the candidate considered his closest potential rival was Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva, who only entered the race last month after that government said its other candidate, Bokova, had failed to win enough support in earlier straw polls. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the Security Council presidency for the month, informed the President of the Assembly, Peter Thomson, that in the sixth informal 'straw poll' for the position of Secretary-General, Guterres emerged as the clear favourite among the Council's 15 members. 6 October 2016 –New York (ABC Live): António Guterres : The Security Council today formally chose the former Prime Minister of Portugal, António Guterres, as its nominee to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations for a five-year term when incumbent Ban Ki-moon steps down on 31 December. In addition to Guterres, who served as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015, 12 other candidates were in the running to succeed the current UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, who leaves office at the end of the year.
The United Nations Security Council affirms the first step in the election of Portuguese António Guterres as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. If ratified by the General Assembly, he will take office on January 1, 2017.