Guterres to run for second term as UN chief

NEW YORK: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will run for a second five-year term as the organization’s chief, his spokesman said.

Guterres informed the president of the General Assembly and Security Council that “he is available to serve a second term as secretary general of the United Nations,” which would run from 2022 to 2026, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a daily press briefing.

Diplomatic officials said Guterres told the UN Security Council’s permanent members last week that he planned to seek a second term. Guterres described the many threats the world faces during the meeting with representatives from China, the US, France, Britain and Russia,

He underscored the need to reconcile “humanity and nature” and the importance of improved international cooperation on other challenges such as cybersecurity and terrorism, the diplomat added.

Other diplomats said Guterres’s hope to serve a second term has so far not been met with any resistance from the permanent Security Council members.

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It is traditional for a UN secretary-general to serve the maximum two terms, though before November’s US election, diplomats said Guterres was not planning to seek a second term if President Donald Trump was re-elected.

The outgoing US leader scorned multilateralism in many instances and assailed UN bodies such as the World Health Organization. Several non-governmental groups have criticized Guterres previously, saying he has been too quiet on human rights issues.

Guterres has said he has pushed various causes with world leaders behind the scenes. Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal and the UN’s former high commissioner for refugees, will see his first term expire in December.

Over the course of the year, the Security Council and General Assembly will confirm whether or not Guterres will serve a second term.