António Guterres’ succession at the UN: Macky Sall in trouble after the first informal vote of the Security Council.
The United Nations Security Council held its first informal secret ballot on Thursday, July 30, 2026, to evaluate the nominations for the succession of Secretary-General António Guterres.
SUMMARY
At the end of this straw poll, former Senegalese President Macky Sall received six favorable votes, seven unfavorable votes, and two abstentions.
This exploratory poll brought together six candidates and placed Macky Sall in fifth place with a negative balance. Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, the current Secretary-General of UNCTAD, topped the vote with ten endorsements. She is followed by Guyanese Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (nine votes) and Argentine Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA (seven votes).
Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet also surpassed the Senegalese candidate with six favorable opinions, five unfavorable, and four abstentions. Ecuadorian María Fernanda Espinosa and Ugandan Olara Otunnu round out the group.
To obtain an official recommendation from the Security Council before submission to the General Assembly, a candidate must gather at least nine votes from the fifteen members, without a veto from a permanent member (China, United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia). No veto rights were expressed during this first round.
The political and regional constraints on the Senegalese candidate
Macky Sall’s candidacy faces two major structural factors within the organization:
- The rule of geographical rotation: Diplomatic customs prioritize the Latin American and Caribbean region, from which four of the six candidates originate.
- Gender representation: There is diplomatic pressure for the appointment of a woman to lead the UN, as none of the nine secretaries-general who have succeeded each other since 1945 have been female.
On a continental level, while Macky Sall has the official support of Senegal, Gambia, and Burundi, the African Union appears divided. About twenty member states of the regional organization have reportedly expressed reservations regarding his candidacy.
Other informal voting rounds will take place in the coming weeks to clarify the balances within the Security Council before António Guterres’ mandate ends in late 2026.
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