Guterres holds lead in race to be next UN chief

Portugal's former prime minister Antonio Guterres held the lead in the race to be the next UN secretary-general after a second straw poll held yesterday that saw some shifts in support, diplomats said.

Guterres received 11 "encourage" votes, two "discourage" votes and two "no opinion" during the secret informal vote by the Security Council, a slightly weaker showing than in the first round last month.

During the closed-door meeting, the 15 members of the council were asked to indicate by ballot whether they "encourage", "discourage" or have "no opinion" of a candidate.

Serbia's former foreign minister Vuk Jeremic made a surprisingly strong showing, taking the second spot while Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra climbed up the rankings, taking third place and becoming the leading woman in the race.

Guterres came out on top during the first round with 12 "encourage" votes and three "no opinion".

Diplomats speculated that one of the two negative votes cast in this round may have come from veto power Russia in a bid to block or slow down his lead.

Slovenia's ex-president Danilo Turk, who was the runner-up in the first round of voting, dropped to fourth place, and UNESCO chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria also fell from her third-place ranking to fifth place.

New Zealand's ex-prime minister and head of the UN Development Program, Helen Clark, also lost some ground, taking the number seven spot after Macedonia's ex-foreign minister Srgjan Kerim.

The new UN secretary-general will begin his or her five-year term on January 1.