Senegal ex-president Macky Sall enters UN secretary-general race

Burundi has nominated former Senegalese president Macky Sall as a candidate for the United Nations' top job, a UN spokesperson said Monday.

Sall led the West African nation, whose current government accuses him of covering up unfavorable economic data, from 2012 to 2024.

"The president of the General Assembly has received a new nomination for the Secretary General selection process. It is Macky Sall, the former president of Senegal. He was nominated by the republic of Burundi," said UN General Assembly spokeswoman La Neice Collins.

A source close to Sall told AFP "Burundi currently chairs the African Union, and it is important for the president (Sall) to have a continental approach.

"His fight, particularly as president of the African Union (from February 2022 to February 2023), was to carry Africa's voice within international bodies."

Senegal's current government accuses the former administration of Sall of having concealed the true extent of the country's fiscal problems.

The selection process for the next United Nations secretary-general, whose term will begin on January 1, 2027, was launched last November.

Each potential candidate must be formally nominated by a state or group of states, but not necessarily by their country of origin.

Two other candidates have been formally nominated: former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi, who currently heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Costa Rica has also put forward its former vice president Rebeca Grynspan, but the letter of candidacy has not yet been officially submitted to the UN.

Many states are pushing for the UN to have its first woman chief.

The Security Council must begin the selection process by the end of July.

It is with the Council's recommendation that the General Assembly then elects the secretary-general for a five-year term, renewable once.