On Tuesday, the General Assembly of the United Nations elected Khalilur Rahman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, as its new president. He received 99 of the 190 votes cast, TASR writes, according to a report by the AFP agency.
The second candidate, Cypriot diplomat Andreas Kakuris, received 91 votes. Rahmán will replace former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in the post in September. Rahman became Bangladesh’s foreign minister in February after the first elections since the ouster of Prime Minister Hasina Vajidova. During the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Júnus, he held the position of national security advisor.
The President of the UN General Assembly is elected annually for a one-year term based on geographical rotation. There is rarely more than one candidate for election, which is usually accepted unanimously.
