Costa Rica’s Grynspan narrowly ahead in race to be next UN chief, sources say

1By Antoni Slodkowski and David Brunnstrom

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 29 (Reuters) – An informal poll by the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday placed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan as the frontrunner in the race to become the 10th UN secretary-general, sources close ‌to the process said.

The fourth secret poll by the 15-member Security Council followed the gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly in New York last week.

The first and third polls, held in July and September, also showed Grynspan narrowly ahead while an August poll placed Guyana's UN ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in the top spot.

After former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet dropped out of the race this month, seven candidates are vying to succeed Antonio Guterres. The former Portuguese prime minister steps down at the end of ​this year after two five-year terms. More candidates could still enter the ⁠race.

Whoever wins ​will have to tackle multiple crises, including several wars, cutbacks in American contributions to the UN, and the UN's declining political relevance.

Ultimately, the five Security Council veto powers — the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain — need to agree on a candidate. When Guterres ​was chosen in 2016, it took six straw polls for the Security Council to reach agreement.

The Security Council will eventually formally ​recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for election. The assembly has long been expected to approve the council's choice.

In the more than 80-year history of ​the UN, there has never ​been a female secretary-general.

In the straw polls, which are expected to continue for several more rounds, Security Council members are asked on secret ballots if they "encourage," "discourage" or have "no opinion" on candidates.

Grynspan received 10 encourage votes, three discourage and two no opinion. Rodrigues-Birkett received eight encourage votes, six discourage and one no opinion, sources close to the process said.

Argentina's Rafael Grossi, the high-profile director general of the UN nuclear watchdog, also received eight encourage and seven discourage votes.

(Editing by Mark Porter, Sanjeev Miglani, Rod Nickel)