Leaked UN Straw Poll Suggests Tough Start for Uganda’s Otunnu

NEW YORK – Leaked preliminary results from the first informal United Nations Security Council straw poll suggest Uganda’s candidate for UN Secretary-General, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, faces an uphill battle in the race to succeed António Guterres.

According to the unverified tally circulating among diplomatic sources, posted by PassBlue, reporters at the UN, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan emerged as the early frontrunner with 10 encouragements, one discouragement and four “no opinion” votes.

Portugal’s António Vitorino Rodrigues Birkett reportedly followed with nine encouragements, while Argentina’s Rafael Grossi received seven. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet and Afghanistan’s Rina Amiri Salli each secured six encouragements, while Ecuador’s María Fernanda Espinosa received five.

Uganda’s Olara Otunnu reportedly garnered two encouragements, five discouragements and eight “no opinion” votes, placing him last among the seven candidates in the leaked results.

The straw poll, held behind closed doors by the 15-member UN Security Council, is intended to gauge the level of support for candidates and help narrow the field ahead of subsequent rounds of voting. The results are confidential, and the United Nations does not officially release the vote counts.

The leaked figures have not been independently verified, and neither the UN nor Security Council members have confirmed their authenticity.

Uganda formally nominated the veteran diplomat and former UN Under-Secretary-General earlier this week, launching a diplomatic campaign to rally international support for his candidature.