‘Bittersweet results’: Twitter reacts to selection of Guterres as UN chief

“Guterres has come out on top of all the polls and on Wednesday received 13 encourage votes and two no opinion votes”

Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres will be the next Secretary General of the United Nations. The UN Security Council, which gets to pick the candidate, will on Thursday formally commend Guterres to the General Assembly for election.

Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP File Photo)

According to Reuters, the 15-member Security Council has been holding informal secret ballots since July to reach a consensus on a candidate. Members had the choices: encourage, discourage or no opinion. Guterres has come out on top of all the polls and on Wednesday received 13 encourage votes and two no opinion votes, the Reuters report said.

“In the end, there was just a candidate whose experience, vision, and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling,” U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters.

The selection of Guterres, who led the UN’s refugee agency for a decade, invited a range of responses on social media. Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand and one of the contenders for the job, sent in her congratulations:

Others posted congratulatory messages and recollections of having worked with Guterres:

Some pointed out that there was politics behind the selection:

Anger and disappointment that women candidates missed out again:

..and acceptance of the Guterres’ selection: