The selection process for the Secretary-General begins in the Security Council. Several candidates are proposed for consideration. The Security Council then conducts informal voting to determine a viable candidate. Given the stature and prominence of the office, significant negotiating has always preceded the election of a new Secretary-General. A successful candidate requires nine votes for approval, including the affirmative vote (or abstention) of each permanent member of the Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States). Once a candidate is formally approved by the Security Council, their nomination is brought for a vote in the General Assembly.
The Secretary-General is elected for a five-year term, which may be renewed. An informal agreement exists in the Security Council that the selection of the Secretary-General alternates among the different geographic regions of the world. Accordingly, Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America have each been represented in the office of the Secretary-General. When the term of Boutros-Boutros Ghali was not renewed in December 1996, it was decided that the new Secretary-General must also be from Africa. Accordingly, the Security Council nominated Kofi Annan, a Ghanian diplomat who has been the UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations since 1993.
The first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie of Norway, was elected by the Security Council on January 29, 1946. When Lie's term as Secretary-General expired, the Soviet Union vetoed his renomination in the Security Council. However, the General Assembly voted to extend Lie's term as Secretary-General for three more years. While the UN Charter requires that the Security Council recommend a candidate for the approval of the General Assembly, it was argued that the vote for Lie was not for a new term of office but simply an extension of the original recommendation of the Security Council. Since then, six other individuals have held the office of Secretary-General. Only Boutros Boutros-Ghali has failed to receive a second term.
