Bangladesh Foreign Minister Elected UN GA President

Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly’s upcoming 81st session on Tuesday, defeating Cyprus’s candidate in a closely contested vote at UN headquarters in New York. Rahman secured 99 votes to 91 for Cyprus’s Special Envoy for Multilateralism, Andreas Kakouris, with 190 member states present and voting. The required majority for election was 96 votes.

Rahman will succeed the current General Assembly President, former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, when his one-year term begins on September 8. The presidency rotates among the UN’s regional groups, with the 81st session falling to the Asia-Pacific group. Following the announcement, the assembly hall broke into applause, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated Rahman, citing his political and diplomatic experience as a guarantee of success for the assembly and the UN as a whole.

In a statement after the vote, Rahman told diplomats the new session would open at a historic crossroads, with trust in the organization being tested. He cited ongoing conflicts, fragile development gains, a backsliding in certain rights and freedoms, and financial...