UNITED NATIONS - A straw poll by the U.N. Security Council Monday could be decisive in selecting a successor to Secretary General Kofi Annan, who steps down Dec 31. The outcome hangs on whether the front runner, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, is blocked by a negative vote from one or more of the five veto-wielding permanent Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, Russian, China, and France. The soft-spoken, mild-mannered minister has led the field almost from the start of the council's secret straw polls, in which the 15 members were asked which of the seven candidates they encouraged, discouraged, or abstained from classifying. But on Thursday, Ban received 13 encouragements, one discouragement, and one "no opinion" vote (as it is called).
U.N. Close to a Decision on Next Secretary General
