The United Nations Security Council backed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday for a second term, recommending that the 193-member General Assembly appoint him for another five years from Jan. 1, 2022.
The secretary general position has been held by a man since the founding of the United Nations in 1945.Mr. Guterres, 72, was the only officially recognized candidate this year for the 2022—2027 term, despite a more competitive and transparent system under changes to the selection process first made in the 2016 election for secretary general.
No other candidate received an endorsement by any United Nations member state, regarded as a prerequisite for serious consideration. In a further signal of support for Mr. Guterres, none of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the 15-member council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — publicly questioned a second term for him.