January 11th local time, United Nations Secretary-General Guterres confirmed that he would seek a second five-year term. If re-election is successful, his second term will begin in January 2022.
At a press conference held at Headquarters in New York, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Dugarik, confirmed that the President of the United Nations General Assembly had written to Guterres to ask whether he intended to run for the highest position in the United Nations again.
In accordance with Article 97 of the Charter of the United Nations, the appointment is made by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, which in fact means that any of the five permanent members can veto the nominees.
Each Secretary-General has a re-election option, provided that they can receive sufficient support from Member States.
Guterres obtained the post of Secretary-General in 2016, but went through a reformed selection process, including an open informal dialogue at the General Assembly with the participation of representatives of civil society, during which each of the 13 candidates issued a vision statement and answered questions.
Dugarik said that Guterres said that he would be re-elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations if Member States so wished.
Dugarik said that Guterres had informed the heads of the Security Council and regional groups of his decision.
He said that it was too early to assess any response from Member States or speculate on any other potential candidates at this stage.
