The United Nations Security Council will hold an initial round of informal closed-door “straw poll” ballots on Thursday to assess support for the seven candidates currently vying to become the next head of the United Nations.

The candidates, from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Senegal, and Uganda, are seeking to replace António Guterres of Portugal when he steps down at the end of this year after two five-year terms.

Guterres’ successor faces the task of revitalizing an organization in crisis and declining stature that is under increasing pressure to reform a bloated, costly bureaucracy and cut duplication across its many agencies.

Straw polls are informal, non-binding votes conducted among the Security Council’s 15 members. They are asked whether they “encourage,” “discourage,” or have “no opinion” on each candidate.

The ballots are secret, and only Council members are present during the exercise.

There is no clear front-runner and historical precedent suggests multiple rounds of polling could continue through the summer and conclude in late September or early October. The process could take longer if no consensus candidate emerges.

Candidates to replace Guterres join race, ballots are cast

The current candidates are Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, head of the UN nuclear watchdog; former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet; former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan; former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa; former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; former Senegalese President Macky Sall; and Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, who entered the race last week.

Other candidates can still join the contest.

In the early rounds of straw polls, identical ballots are cast, allowing diplomats to see overall levels of support and opposition without revealing whether negative votes came from one of the Council’s five veto-wielding permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

At a later stage, P5 members use a different color from elected members that reveals whether a candidate has received a “discourage” vote from one of them.

The Security Council ultimately adopts a resolution, traditionally behind closed doors, recommending an appointment to the 193-member UN General Assembly. This needs nine votes in favor, and no vetoes, and subsequent General Assembly approval has long been seen as a rubber stamp.

The current Security Council president is the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its UN ambassador, Zenon Mukongo Ngay, confirmed to reporters on Tuesday that the first round of straw polls would take place on Thursday morning.

He said Otunnu would be included, even though he has yet to take part in informal hearings completed by other candidates.

Otunnu’s CV states that he invented the system of straw polls to choose a new secretary-general while president of the Security Council in 1981.

Guterres visited Syria, pledged support in disputes with Israel

This comes after Guterres recognized the Golan Heights as part of Syria in a landmark visit to Damascus on Saturday.

His appearance was part of the first visit to Syria by a UN chief since 2009, before the civil war that dismantled the Assad regime. 

Guterres also urged the international community to take a more active role in mitigating Israel’s involvement in Syria while pledging continued UN advocacy on the issue.

Ruby Sadikman contributed to this report. 

This post was originally published on here.