(VOVworld) –15 UN Security Council members cast their ballots on Thursday to select the new Secretary General to replace Ban Ki-moon in January, after months of campaigning. Each member country voted for each candidate for the post. The result will not be published but will be reported to the governments who nominated the candidates. So far, 12 candidates have been officially declared, mainly from Eastern European countries. Many countries have voiced their supporting for selecting a woman to become the next UN Secretary General. The two most prominent candidates are the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova and the current head of the UN development program and the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark.

Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova (Photo: Reuters)

Under the UN Charter, the polls for the next UN Secretary General will be held behind closed doors at the Security Council then a single candidate will be submitted to the General Assembly for approval. This year, for the first time in history, the candidates have been asked to submit their resumes and openly express their capabilities. As scheduled, the Security Council will release its final decision in September.