United Nations Secretary-General selection of the race, but Kurt Waldheim of Austria won the most votes in the first round. Carlos Ortiz de Rozas of Argentina also passed the 9-vote threshold in the second round. However, China vetoed Waldheim, and the Soviet Union vetoed Jakobson and Ortiz. Prior to the third round, the U.S. and UK delegations received instructions to prevent Waldheim from being selected, but they decided to abstain and rely on the Chinese veto. To their surprise, China switched its veto to an abstention. Kurt Waldheim received no vetoes and was selected Secretary-General for a term starting on 1 January 1972. Kurt
General Secretary of the United National Party of the United National Party. Harsha Abeywardena, Sirisena Cooray, Gamini Wijesekere, Senarath Kapukotuwa and Tissa Attanayake are some of the party members who were the general secretaries in the past. Kapukotuwa held the General Secretary position of UNP from 2001 to 2004. Tissa Attanayake was one of the longest serving secretaries of the party but resigned from the position days before the presidential elections of 2015. General Secretary of the United National Party General Secretary of the United National Party is one of the top positions of the grand old party of Sri Lanka. The General Secretary holds the powers