UN Secretary General Re-elected
June 27th, 2011
The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved on Tuesday the re-election of Ban Ki Moon as Secretary General of the international organisation, which means he will serve a further five year term in office, from January 1, 2012.
Ban Ki Moon, a South Korean and former Foreign Minister, started his career as head of the UN in January 2007, replacing the Ghanaian Kofi Annan.
The United Nations Security Council had approved unanimously, a resolution that recommended the re-election of the current secretary general, the only person who had run for office.
Based on Article 97 of the UN Charter, the onus is on the Security Council to recommend a candidate for secretary general and then on the General Assembly to confirm the appointment. Although it is up to the Assembly to give its final approval, in practice any decision depends primarily on the five countries with veto power in the Security Council – the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China – to support who they want for the job.
Since the start of discussions on the possible re-election of Ban, only Cuba has shown reluctance and, although it has not given reasons for these suspicions, diplomatic sources have attributed them to an alleged closeness between the Secretary General and the Government of the United States.
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