Michelle Bachelet withdraws from race to become UN secretary general

Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, has withdrawn her candidacy to become the next secretary general of the ⁠UN, ending an attempt ​that had struggled to gain traction among security council members.

Bachelet, 74, announced ⁠her decision in a video posted on Instagram on Saturday, saying: “I will now continue, with the ⁠same determination as always, my international work.”

The two-time Chilean ​president and former ‌UN human ‌rights chief had positioned her campaign around defending multilateralism and ‌international law at a time when she said both were under sustained pressure.

Bachelet’s exit leaves seven candidates in the race to succeed António Guterres, who will conclude his second five-year term as secretary general on ‌31 December. It is still possible for more candidates to enter the contest.

Her ​withdrawal comes after a third informal straw poll, held on Friday, showed her support had all but collapsed. That same poll put Costa ⁠Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan in the lead.

The UN security ​council ​will formally recommend ​a single candidate to the 193-member general ​assembly for election. ‌The assembly’s ​approval ​has long been seen as a formality once the council reaches consensus.