New York, 27 September 2006 – The Security Council decided this afternoon on the format of the next two informal straw polls of Secretary-General candidates. The next poll – to be held Thursday, 28 September, at 4 pm – will not differentiate the ballots of permanent members from those of non-permanent members.

Permanent members France and the United Kingdom opposed the differentiated format, reportedly in the interest of extending the process. They preferred to have the newest candidates (Vaira Vike-Freiberga and Ashraf Ghani) evaluated in the same way as the earlier candidates, as well as to allow for new candidates to come forward. China, Russia, and the United States, however, favored an accelerated process. As a compromise, a fourth straw poll on Monday, 2 October, will use blue-colored ballots for permanent members and white ballots for non-permanent members. Japan will hold the Security Council presidency in October.

In Thursday’s poll, a result of 15 “encourage” votes for one candidate could be considered conclusive and would likely be followed by a formal vote to finalize the Council’s recommendation for the General Assembly. The leading candidate would need to receive nine affirmative votes from Council members including concurring votes from all five permanent members, for formal recommendation. This rule was established in General Assembly Resolution 11/1 of 1946.

Any result aside from a 15-vote sweep for one candidate would allow the selection process to continue. For example, if some members strongly want to keep the process open, they could use the option of voting “discourage” or “no opinion” on leading candidates. In the case that the process is still considered open after Thursday’s poll, new candidates would have the time between now and Monday to be nominated by a Member State. Nominations may be submitted until the final selection is made in the Security Council, a practice that was affirmed in a letter from the President of the Security Council on 2 June 2006.

By revealing the preferences of permanent members, the differentiated poll on Monday very likely will narrow the field of candidates. The reason for China, Russia, and the U.S.’ desire to poll conclusively very soon, as understood by U.N. and media sources, is that they are satisfied with the current pool of candidates and believe that their preferred candidate – assumed by many to be Ban Ki-Moon – will not receive a “discourage” vote from any permanent member. Ban Ki-Moon received 14 “encourage” ballots and one “discourage” ballot in the 14 September poll and had a similarly favorable outcome in the July poll. If permanent members who support Ban were to veto other candidates in a colored poll, the selection process would be widely regarded as over.

The meeting at which this decision was made was very secretive. Neither Security Council presidency staff nor UN interpreters were allowed in the room. Security Council president, Ambassador Vassilakis of Greece, and US ambassador John Bolton, informed reporters of the results after the meeting.