U.N. council recommends second term for Ban Ki-moon - Report
June 17, 2011 10:05 pm
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Security Council on Friday unanimously recommended that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon be elected for a second five-year term beginning in January 2012.
The 192-nation U.N. General Assembly is planning to formally re-elect the former South Korean foreign minister to the top U.N. job on Tuesday, diplomats said.
“The Security Council ... recommends to the General Assembly that Mr. Ban Ki-moon be appointed secretary-general of the United Nations for a second term of office from 1st January, 2012, to 31st December, 2016,” said a resolution adopted by acclamation by the 15-nation council.
The council’s decision was delayed for one day because one of the U.N. regional groups -- Latin America and the Caribbean -- had not agreed to endorse Ban.
Diplomats said the group had still not achieved consensus by Friday morning, but the council went ahead with its recommendation. Endorsement by regional groups is considered desirable but is not technically necessary.
Ban’s re-election is a virtual certainty following the Security Council recommendation, which followed agreement by its five permanent members that they wanted him to continue in office. No other candidates have been proposed.
