1996 United Nations Secretary-General selection a term beginning 1 January 1997. The 1996 selection marks the only time that a sitting Secretary-General was denied a second term. The elderly Boutros-Ghali initially intended to serve only one term, but he ran for a second term in 1996. Traditionally, the Secretary-General is entitled to run unopposed for a second term. No sitting Secretary-General had ever been denied a second term by a veto. In the 1950 selection, Trygve Lie was vetoed by the Soviet Union, but he was re-appointed by the General Assembly without a recommendation from the Security Council. In the 1976 selection, Kurt Waldheim received
2016 United Nations Secretary-General selection As a result, the selection is subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The Charter's minimal language has since been supplemented by other procedural rules and accepted practices. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would be completing his second term on 31 December 2016, after which he would step down due to the informal two-term limit. Under the principle of regional rotation, candidates from Asia were ineligible to succeed Ban. The Eastern European Group was favored in the 2016 selection, as it was the only one of the United Nations Regional Groups never to have