New Delhi, September 29
The Ministry of External Affairs did not come out with any official reaction to the latest straw poll by the 15-member United Nations Security Council the results of which came out today in which the position of Mr Shashi Tharoor, India's nominee for the UN Secretary General's post, has weakened. The MEA refrained from an official reaction because the straw polls results are not officially communicated to governments concerned. Voting in straw polls is secret.
This was the third straw poll and in all three Mr Tharoor has finished second in the race for the top job in the United Nations. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki- Moon has emerged the winner in all three straw polls so far.
The fourth and last straw poll is expected to take place on October 2. A straw poll - the terminology derived from the phrase “straws in the wind” - is only an indicator of the current opinion and not binding.
Apart from the permanent five (the USA, the UK, France, Russia and China), current members of the Security Council are Argentina, Congo, Denmark, Ghana, Greece, Japan, Peru, Qatar, Slovakia, and Tanzania.
The fate of Mr Tharoor’s candidature will be better known only in the aftermath of the October 2 straw poll when some churning is expected to take place.
