By Olivia Le Poidevin and Antoni Slodkowski
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - An informal poll by the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday placed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan as the frontrunner in the race to become the 10th UN secretary-general, two sources close to the process said.
The fifth secret poll by the 15-member Security Council followed days of intense negotiations among diplomats in New York after four previous ballots did not result in the emergence of one
candidate with overwhelming backing.
Although Grynspan is still leading the pack of seven contenders, the support for her weakened slightly compared to the poll last week, suggesting ongoing gridlock, a result that may prompt other senior figures to join the race.
The selection is taking place at a critical time for the 193-member body. Whoever wins will have to tackle multiple crises, including wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, cutbacks in American contributions, and the UN's declining political relevance as Washington has pulled out of many of its agencies.
Former UN official Daniel Safran-Hon said that while Grynspan had a bad day, she is still in the race because she still has the nine votes necessary to get the job.
Under UN rules, a recommendation to the General Assembly for the secretary-general post requires an affirmative vote from at least nine of the 15 council members, although ultimately, the five veto powers — the US, China, Russia, France and Britain — need to agree on a candidate.
"Her unstable support could be seen by potential new candidates as an opportunity to join the race ahead of the next round later this month," said Safran-Hon, adding that the race has not been this competitive in 30 years.
After former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet dropped out of the race last month, seven candidates are vying to succeed Antonio Guterres. The former Portuguese prime minister steps down at the end of this year after two five-year terms.
If the impasse persists, more candidates could enter the race. Diplomats at the UN say several senior figures, including former and current foreign ministers and country leaders, are seriously considering throwing their hats into the ring.
In the more than 80-year history of the UN, there has never been a female secretary-general.
In the straw polls, which are expected to continue for several more rounds, Security Council members are asked on secret ballots if they "encourage," "discourage" or have "no opinion" on candidates.
Grynspan received 9 encourage votes, 6 discourage and 0 no opinion. That was down from 10 encourage votes at the previous vote.
The rest of the candidates, who include Guyana's UN ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Argentina's Rafael Grossi, the high-profile director general of the UN nuclear watchdog, received more discourage than encourage votes, suggesting that the support for them is waning.
(Additional reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Mark Porter, Nick Zieminski and Sanjeev Miglani)
