Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrLucky who wrote (391324)	11/4/2010 8:03:58 PM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 793964

Current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took office on January 1, 2007. His first term ends on December 31, 2011. The Secretary-General's five-year term can be renewed one time. Prospects of a re-appointment for Secretary-General Ban are being discussed increasingly, now that the mid-point of his term (June 30, 2009) has passed. In October 2011, Member States will either extend Ban's tenure or appoint someone new. Process for Selection of Secretary-General The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council, according to Article 97 in Chapter 15 of the UN Charter. UN Member States submit the names of potential nominees to the Security Council. The Security Council then meets privately to discuss candidates and may utilize "straw polls" to determine where support lies, through informal votes that either encourage or discourage a candidacy. Approval in Security Council: All candidates are subject to the veto and thus must gain the support of all five permanent members of the Security Council. According to General Assembly Resolution 11/1 of 1946, a candidate must gain an affirmative vote of nine members of the Security Council, including concurring votes of the five permanent members, in order for a nomination to go forward to the General Assembly. In other words, as long as none of the permanent members block a candidate's selection with a veto and at least four other members vote for him or her, that person may be nominated formally by the Security Council. Single Nomination to General Assembly: Resolution 11/1 also states that it would be "desirable" for the Council to nominate only one candidate to the General Assembly for consideration, to avoid debate over the nomination. Approval in General Assembly: The final appointment of the nominated candidate for Secretary-General is determined by in a private meeting of the General Assembly. Member States have the opportunity to raise objections to the Security Council's recommendation. In this case the likely result would be a vote by secret ballot. However, in the absence of objections, the Assembly approves the candidate by consensus or acclamation. Resolution 11/1's stipulates: "a simple majority of the members of that body present and voting is sufficient, unless the General Assembly itself decides that a two-thirds majority is called for." Qualifications and Criteria: The UNSG selection process lacks concrete guidelines for candidate nominations and evaluation, a timeline for the selection process including a deadline for declaring candidacies, and formal candidate criteria. (A 1945 report by the UN Preparatory Commission recommends criteria.) Regional Rotation: Traditionally, the Secretary-General has been selected based on an informal system of regional rotation. GA Resolution 51/241 states: In the course of the identification and appointment of the best candidate for the post of the Secretary-General, due regard shall continue to be given to regional rotation and shall also be given to gender equality. Regional distribution of the post of Secretary-General to date has taken the following order: Western Europe (Trygvie Lie, Dag Hammarskjold) Asia (U Thant) Western Europe (Kurt Waldheim) Latin America and the Caribbean (Javier Perez de Cuellar) Africa (Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Kofi Annan) Asia (Ban Ki-moon) Representatives from Eastern Europe have advocated for consideration of Eastern European candidates under a separate regional bloc. Traditionally, candidates from the Permanent Five members of the Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), are not considered for the position of Secretary-General to avoid further concentration of power within the UN. As with regional rotation, this is a matter of precedent and convention, rather than a written rule. Term Length: Resolution 11/1 specifies that the first term of the first Secretary-General is for five years, with the possibility to renew for an additional five-year term. Since then, terms have been based on this five-year precedent, but the GA and Security Council have exercised flexibility (provided in Resolution 11/1) to modify the terms of contentious candidates. No UNSG has served more than two terms. unelections.org * * *