1971 United Nations Secretary-General selection 1971 United Nations Secretary-General selection A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in 1971 to succeed U Thant, who was stepping down after two full terms. Three candidates received enough votes in the Security Council to be selected Secretary-General: Carlos Ortiz de Rozas of Argentina, Kurt Waldheim of Austria, and Max Jakobson of Finland. However, all of the frontrunners were vetoed in the first two rounds of voting. In the third round, Waldheim accidentally escaped a triple-veto when three permanent members failed to coordinate their votes and all abstained. As a result, Kurt Waldheim was selected Secretary-General of the United
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