Costa Rica’s Grynspan extends lead in informal UN chief poll, sources say

An informal poll by the United Nations Security Council shows former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan has extended her lead as frontrunner in the race to become the 10th UN secretary-general, people close ‌to the process say.

Grynspan received 12 votes in favor and three against on the 15-member council, marking her strongest showing in eight closed-door ballots conducted in recent months to replace Antonio Guterres as he finishes his second five-year term this year.

Whoever takes over will have to tackle multiple crises, including several wars, cutbacks in US contributions to the ​UN, and the 193-member body’s declining political relevance as Washington has pulled out of dozens of its agencies.

Securing the council’s recommendation will require a formal vote, expected once one candidate shows a strong chance of prevailing, with at least nine positive votes and no “discourage” votes from the five permanent ​members — France, Britain, the US, Russia and China. Thursday’s ballot has not disclosed the preferences of those five members.

Six of seven polls conducted in recent months have shown Grynspan — who is Jewish and has family and personal ties to Israel — narrowly ahead, with one poll in August placing Guyana’s UN ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in the top spot.

In the latest poll, Rodrigues-Birkett received eight votes in favor, coming in third, while Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the director general of the UN nuclear watchdog, came in second with nine “encourage” votes.

The results were very close to the outcome of last week’s poll, except for Grynspan’s gain of one vote.

Also identical to last week was the result for United Arab Emirates diplomat Lana Nusseibeh, a late entrant to the race, who again came in fourth with seven votes in favor, six against and two marked as “no opinion.”