MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Korean leading candidate to replace Kofi Annan

Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon came top in a straw poll of candidates for the next UN secretary-general at the UN Security Council in New York.

Ban won 12 "encourage" votes from the five permanent and 10 temporary members of the council, as against one "discourage" and two "no opinion". His closest rival, India's UN Undersecretary-General Shashi Tharoor, came second with 10 "encourage," way ahead of Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who has the backing of ASEAN.

Surakiart rated seven for, three against and five abstentions, while former UN disarmament chief Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka won five for, six against and four abstentions. Straw polls for each candidate were conducted separately.

Ban so far has the best prospects for the full-fledged election process in September and October, but the straw poll is only a first step, and UN insiders point to the possible emergence of another candidate as the biggest variable given general lack of enthusiasm for any of the candidates. With Surakiart's chances now remote, the ASEAN bloc could now put forward another candidate, a UN source said.

The name of Goh Chok Tong, the former premier of Singapore, is reportedly being bandied about in UN circles, but a Korean government official has said that Goh Chok Tong had already said that he will not be running for the post. Additional candidates could include UN Development Program chief Kemal Dervis and Jordan's Prince Zeid al-Hussein UN Development Program chief Kemal Dervis and Jordan's Prince Zeid al-Hussein.