Portugal’s former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres was appointed as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations by the General Assembly.

The 193 member states of the General Assembly adopted the resolution by acclamation, appointing 67-year-old Mr. Guterres as the ninth U.N. Secretary-General to take over from Ban Ki-moon, whose tenure will end on December 31, 2016.

• The 15-nation U.N. Security Council had last week voted for Mr. Guterres by acclamation and forwarded his name to the General Assembly.
• Mr. Guterres, who was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, will assume his new role on January 1, 2017 for a five-year term that can be renewed by member states for an additional five years.
• Mr. Guterres had emerged as the frontrunner in all the six informal polls conducted in the Security Council to select the Secretary-General amid a heightened call by several U.N. member states and civil society organisations to elect a woman chief for the world body, which has had a man at its helm for all the 71 years of its existence.
• Under procedures for appointing the world body’s new chief, after the recommendation is transmitted from the Council to the Assembly, a draft resolution is issued for the Assembly to take action.
• The last five Secretaries-General were appointed by the Assembly through a resolution adopted by consensus. A vote takes place only if a member state requests it and a simple majority of those voting would be required for the Assembly to adopt the resolution. If a vote is taken, it will be by secret ballot.