Senegal’s former President Macky Sall has announced that he’s pulling out of the race to lead the United Nations ahead of the elections.
The former president who was nominated by Burundi made the announcement via his social media pages. The announcement which now gives a huge boost to Uganda’s Olala Otunu comes one day after an informal straw poll by the UN Security Council Members saw all the seven candidates receive at least one veto.
In the statement posted on his social media in French, Sall said he “hope to contribute now to the emergence of a consensus candidate. Candidates need nine ‘encourage’ votes from the Security Council’s 15 members. ‘Discourage’ votes from any of the body’s five permanent members; Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States effectively constitute a veto.
After a first straw poll in July, Sall received just six votes in favor with seven against his candidate and two abstentions. None of the polls so far are binding and other rounds will take place before the final ballot between now and December 31
After Friday’s poll, Costa Rica’s Rebecca Grynspan remains the frontrunner with seven positive votes. But she also got five ‘discourage’ votes- including two from permanent members. If she wins the final ballot, she will become the first woman to lead the UN in over 80 years.
Macky Sall was nominated to the race by Burundi after his own country Senegal refused to back his di for the top UN job but his successor [Senegal’s president] Bassirou Domaye Faye threw his support behind Sall in July after the two held a meeting in Dakar.
It’s a tradition that the UN’s top job should rotate between different continents. Under that premise, the role should go to a candidate from Latin America this time and most of the seven candidates are from the region. These include; Rafael Grossi who currently leads the UN nuclear Watchdog from Argentina, Rebecca Grynspan from Costa Rica, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces from Equador and Ivonne A-Baki also from Equador but nominated by Tonga.
Macky Sall becomes the third candidate to withdraw from the race after Virginia Gamba from Argentina and Michelle Bacheret from Chille who also withdrew earlier. The race now has two men Rafael Grossi from Argentina and Olala Otunu from Uganda the only African contender battling with three women.
À l’issue du vote informel du 16 octobre 2026 pour l’élection au poste de Secrétaire général des Nations Unies, et après consultations avec Son Excellence Monsieur Evariste Ndayishimiye, Président de la République du Burundi, Président en exercice de l’Union Africaine, et Son Excellence Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, Président de la République du Sénégal, Président en exercice de la CEDEAO, j’ai décidé de retirer ma candidature audit poste (…).
— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) October 17, 2026
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