Secretary-General of the United Nations the appointee's national origin and to gender equality, although no woman has yet served as Secretary-General. The length of the term is discretionary, but all Secretaries-General since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms. Every Secretary-General since 1961 has been re-selected for a second term, with the exception of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was vetoed by the United States in the 1996 selection. There is a term limit of two full terms, established when China cast a record 16 vetoes against Kurt Waldheim's third term in the 1981 selection. No Secretary-General since 1981 has attempted to secure a third term. The
1981 United Nations Secretary-General selection during the selection and did not campaign for office, became the clear favorite. Otunnu immediately moved to a formal vote. The Security Council rallied around the favorite and selected Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru to be Secretary-General for a five-year term beginning 1 January 1982. The General Assembly ratified his selection by acclamation on 15 December 1981. Pérez became the first U.N. Secretary-General from Latin America. Since the Third World held a majority of the votes in the General Assembly, diplomats expected that Waldheim would be the last European to hold the office, and all future Secretaries-General would come