Former Portugal PM, Antonio Guterres set to become next UNSC

Former Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Guterres is poised to become the next Secretary General of the United Nations after the Security Council declared him to be the unanimous choice in the sixth straw poll. Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who is the Council President for October, told reporters in New York that Mr Guterres was the clear favourite. He said, the 15-nation Council will go for a formal vote today to confirm Mr Guterres' name for the



post.

After the UNSC formal vote, Mr Guterres' name will be officially transferred to the General Assembly, whose membership historically chooses the candidate that the Council decides upon. 66-year old Guterres is expected to take over from Ban Ki-moon early next year. The former Portugese Prime Minister was the head of the UN refugee agency from 2005 to 2015. He had led the agency through some of the world's worst refugee crises, including in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.