The race for UN Secretary-General enters its final stretch before the Security Council's first straw poll, expected at the end of July. Through this secret ballot, the Council's fifteen members indicate, for each candidate, whether they "encourage", "discourage" or take no position.
The mechanics give weight to every contact. To be recommended to the General Assembly, a candidate must gather at least nine votes without a veto from any of the five permanent members, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia. This first round opens the process without closing it: in the comparable precedents of 2007 and 2015, the formal recommendation came only in the autumn.
With this in view, President Macky Sall's campaign focuses on bilateral consultations, after a tour that took him recently to Bogotá, to meet the Colombian president, and to Moscow. Every exchange with a Council member counts, and the vision he carries remains constant: an inclusive, impartial and action-oriented United Nations, attentive to every member state.
Experience gives the approach its foundation: twelve years as Head of State, the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022, the continent's voice in the food, health and energy crises. The only African candidate in the race, President Macky Sall has carried Senegal's official candidacy since 20 July, its diplomatic network mobilised in the capitals.
Six candidacies have been submitted to date. The race remains open, no clear front-runner has emerged, and it is at the Council that the true hierarchy will take shape. The week will be watched capital by capital.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
Learn more: www.mackysall.net