How is the next UN chief being chosen? | Explained

The term of the current UN Secretary-General, António Guterres of Portugal, ends on December 31, 2026. The next Secretary-General will assume office on Janua...

What Happened

The term of the current UN Secretary-General, António Guterres of Portugal, ends on December 31, 2026. The next Secretary-General will assume office on January 1, 2027.
The formal selection process began in November 2025 with a joint letter from the presidents of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the UN General Assembly (UNGA) inviting member states to nominate candidates.
The Security Council is expected to finalise its recommended candidate by July 2026, following internal deliberations that include secret straw polls.
Once the UNSC recommends a candidate, the General Assembly will vote by secret ballot to formally appoint the Secretary-General.
The process operates under Article 97 of the UN Charter and involves significant informal power by the P5 (the five permanent members of the Security Council — the US, UK, France, China, and Russia).

Static Topic Bridges

Article 97 of the UN Charter — Legal Basis for Appointment

Article 97 of the United Nations Charter states: "The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council." This single sentence establishes the constitutional basis for the entire selection process — and the critical gatekeeping role of the Security Council.

The Charter does not specify term length, age limit, or eligibility criteria. These have evolved as informal conventions.
The Security Council's recommendation is effectively decisive: the General Assembly has never rejected a UNSC-recommended candidate.
The Charter does not specify the procedure within the Security Council (straw polls, informal veto, etc.); these evolved over decades of practice.
The qualification requirement in Article 100 is that the Secretary-General must act independently of member states and not seek or receive instructions from any government — the office is designed to be politically neutral.
General Assembly Resolution A/RES/11(I) of 1946 established that both nomination and appointment processes should be conducted in private with secret ballots.

Connection to this news: This is the foundational legal framework. Every element of the current selection process — Security Council straw polls, UNGA vote, confidentiality requirements — derives from or operates around Article 97.

The Security Council's Role and the P5 Veto

Because the appointment of the Secretary-General is not a procedural matter, it requires the affirmative vote of at least nine Security Council members, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members (P5). In practice, this gives each P5 member an effective veto over any candidate.

The UNSC uses a system of straw polls (non-binding, secret ballots) to test candidate viability before a formal vote. A "discourage" vote from any P5 member in a straw poll is treated as an effective veto signal.
The straw poll system was first used in the 1981 selection, when multiple rounds of polling broke a deadlock, and has been used in every selection since.
P5 dynamics mean that any candidate seen as closely aligned with one bloc is likely to be vetoed by an opposing bloc. This tends to favour candidates from smaller or non-aligned states as compromise choices.
All five P5 members have used veto power (formal or informal straw-poll equivalent) at various points in SG selection history.
China cast 16 "discourage" votes against Kurt Waldheim in 1981, establishing the principle that even a determined candidate cannot override a P5 veto.

Connection to this news: The P5 veto remains the single most powerful constraint on the selection process. Any candidate for the 2026 selection must navigate P5 politics — particularly given current US-China-Russia geopolitical tensions — before the formal UNGA vote becomes relevant.

Regional Rotation Convention

While the UN Charter contains no provision mandating rotation of the Secretary-General position by region, an informal convention has emerged over the organisation's history that different regional groups of the UN take turns holding the office.

The UN is divided into five regional groups for electoral purposes: African Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eastern European Group, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC), and Western European and Others Group (WEOG).
António Guterres (Portugal) represents the WEOG. Following convention, the post would rotate to the Eastern European Group, the Asia-Pacific Group, or another underrepresented region.
The Eastern European Group has lobbied strongly that it is their "turn" for the Secretary-General position, given that no candidate from that region has ever held the office.
Regional rotation is not binding — it is a political norm enforced through bloc solidarity in voting, not through Charter provisions.
Past Secretaries-General: Trygve Lie (Norway/WEOG), Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden/WEOG), U Thant (Myanmar/Asia-Pacific), Kurt Waldheim (Austria/WEOG), Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Peru/GRULAC), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt/Africa), Kofi Annan (Ghana/Africa), Ban Ki-moon (South Korea/Asia-Pacific), António Guterres (Portugal/WEOG).

Connection to this news: Regional rotation will be a key determinant of which candidates gain broad support. The current cycle's informal "expectation" for Eastern Europe or another group makes the 2026 selection particularly contested.

UN Secretary-General — Role, Functions, and Powers

The Secretary-General is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations, responsible for running the UN Secretariat and providing overall organisational leadership. The role also has significant but formally constrained political functions.

The Secretary-General heads the UN Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (along with the UNGA, UNSC, International Court of Justice, ECOSOC, and the Trusteeship Council).
Article 99 of the UN Charter empowers the Secretary-General to "bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security" — giving the role proactive political standing, not just administrative function.
The Secretary-General coordinates the work of the entire UN system, including specialised agencies (WHO, UNESCO, FAO, ILO, IAEA) and funds/programmes (UNDP, UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR).
The office is served by a five-year term, renewable once. Guterres served his first term (2017–2021) and was re-appointed for a second term (2022–2026).
The Secretary-General represents the UN in international diplomacy, mediates conflicts, and convenes special sessions on global crises (climate, pandemics, peace).

Connection to this news: Understanding the powers of the office explains why the selection process is so carefully managed by the P5 — a Secretary-General who uses Article 99 assertively can shape the Security Council's agenda and the UN's global standing.

Key Facts & Data

Current Secretary-General: António Guterres (Portugal), term ends December 31, 2026
Next Secretary-General's term begins: January 1, 2027
Formal selection process began: November 25, 2025
UNSC expected to finalise recommendation: by July 2026
Legal basis: Article 97, UN Charter — "appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council"
Minimum UNSC votes required: 9 of 15 members, including all 5 P5 members (no veto)
Straw poll system first used: 1981 selection
Article 99: empowers SG to bring threats to peace to UNSC attention — key political power
UNGA/UNSC reform resolution for more open selection: A/RES/69/321 (2016)
2016 reforms introduced: candidate vision statements published, candidates appear before General Assembly
UN Regional Groups: 5 (African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, GRULAC, WEOG)
Guterres is from WEOG; Eastern European Group has never held the SG position
Total UN Secretaries-General to date: 9 (from Trygve Lie to Guterres)
UN Charter: came into force October 24, 1945; 193 current member states