An informal poll by the UN Security Council placed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan as the narrow frontrunner in the contest to become the 10th UN secretary-general, sources said.
The third secret poll by the 15-member Security Council came ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York next week.
The first poll in July showed Grynspan narrowly ahead and the second vote last month placed Guyana's UN Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett in the top spot.
Eight candidates are vying to succeed Antonio Guterres, who steps down at the end of this year after two five-year terms.
- Grynspan received nine encourage, five discourage and one no opinion;
- Rodrigues Birkett received eight encourage, six discourage and one no opinion.
- Uganda's Olara Otunnu, a diplomat and former U.N. under-secretary-general, received five encourage, seven discourage and three no opinion;
- Argentina's Rafael Grossi, the high-profile director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, received five encourage, eight discourage and two no opinion;
- Senegal's former president Macky Sall received five encourage, nine discourage and one no opinion;
- Maria Fernanda Espinosa, a former Ecuadorean foreign and defence minister and former president of the UN General Assembly, received three encourage, six discourage and six no opinion;
- Michelle Bachelet, a two-time president of Chile and a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, received one encourage, 11 discourage and three no opinion; while Ivonne Baki, an Ecuadorean diplomat, received zero encourage, 10 discourage and five no opinion.
