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
1991 United Nations Secretary-General selection 1991 United Nations Secretary-General selection A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in 1991 to replace Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, whose second term would end on 31 December 1991. Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt was selected for a term ending on 31 December 1996, becoming the first Secretary-General from Africa. The 1991 selection took place at a time of expectations for a "new world order," in which the United Nations would no longer be paralyzed by the superpower conflict of the Cold War. The expectations appeared to be fulfilled when the 1991 selection became the smoothest open selection in decades. No