1981 United Nations Secretary-General selection straw polls, an innovation that became the standard method for selecting a Secretary-General in future open selections. Waldheim's defeat also confirmed the informal two-term limit on the office of Secretary-General, and Pérez's selection firmly established the principle of regional rotation. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. Therefore, candidates for the office can be vetoed by any of the permanent members. In 1981, Kurt Waldheim of Austria was finishing up his second term as Secretary-General, despite Chinese preferences for a Secretary-General from the Third World. In the 1971
United Nations Secretary-General selection always leak the results to journalists. Candidates for Secretary-General can be vetoed by the permanent members, just as popes could be vetoed by Catholic Great Powers until the 1903 conclave. The qualifications for holding the office have never been set down formally. However, some qualifications have been established through precedent and are supported by the veto power of China and France. The United States and the United Kingdom do not accept the Sino-French qualifications and have supported candidates who do not meet the requirements. No candidate from the Permanent Five has ever been nominated for the position of Secretary-General, as