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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Pavel Filip, the prime minister of Moldova, on Friday called the UN member states, particularly the UN Security Council members, to elect the next UN secretary-general from East Europe.
The prime minister, addressing the General Debate of the General Assembly, said, "We call on all UN member states, particularly the Security Council members, to elect a secretary-general from the Eastern European region, the only region that has not represented in this high position and which has put forward a number of valuable candidates."
"The issue of gender equality should be also considered within the selection process," Filip said.
"We believe that a possible decision to elect a female candidate as the UN secretary-general will resonate well with the growing international expectations in this regard," he added.
Former Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic of Serbia, also a former president of the UN General Assembly, Irina Bokova, head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the former president of Slovenia and a former UN assistant secretary-general, Danilo Turk, are among the existing Eastern European candidates vying to succeed the current UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, on Jan. 1, 2017.
The 15-nation UN council is set to have another round of straw poll on Sept. 26. The informal, secret straw polls are held to get a reading on how candidates are faring.
There had been a push for a woman to serve as the next UN chief as well as a push from Eastern European states for winning candidates, but while diplomats in the 15-nation Security Council said they welcomed such diversity they also say they insist on getting the best possible candidate regardless of gender or geo-political region.
