SANTIAGO: Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has withdrawn from the race to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations, ending a campaign that sought to place a woman from Latin America at the helm of the world body.
Bachelet announced her decision on Sept. 19 in a video posted on social media. She said she had decided not to continue her candidacy but made clear that she did not regret accepting what she described as a major challenge, reported by the Hurriyet Daily News.
“Some may believe that the time was not right for a candidacy like the one I sought to represent,” Bachelet said. “I do not regret having taken on this great challenge.”
The former president, who was Chile’s first woman leader, said her campaign had helped open an important debate about the future of the United Nations. She argued that the next secretary-general should be a woman from Latin America, a region that has never held the organisation’s top post.
Her withdrawal came weeks after an informal Security Council poll placed her second to last among eight candidates. The straw polls are not binding, but they are closely watched because they offer an early indication of support among the 15 members of the UN Security Council.
Chile’s government said it had withdrawn its support for Bachelet’s candidacy in March. Since then, it has not endorsed any of the remaining contenders. The government reaffirmed its commitment to multilateralism and to reforming the United Nations.
In the first two informal polls, Costa Rica’s former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan led the field. Guyana’s former Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett emerged ahead in the third round.
Bachelet, 74, was nominated in February by the administration of then President Gabriel Boric and received backing from the leftist governments of Mexico and Brazil. Her campaign gradually lost momentum after Chile’s new far right President, José Antonio Kast, withdrew the government’s support.
