SENEGAL · UNITED NATIONS · DIPLOMACY
Key Facts
- —What happened Macky Sall, Senegal’s president from 2012 to 2024, withdrew from the race for UN Secretary-General on Saturday, 17 October, a day after the Security Council’s sixth straw poll.
- —How the job is filled The 15-member Security Council recommends a candidate and the 193-member General Assembly appoints; any of the five permanent members, including the United States, can block a name.
- —The numbers Leaked fifth-round results from 7 October gave Sall 5 encouraging and 10 discouraging votes, while Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan led with 9 encouraging votes.
- —The US stance Washington wants a choice before António Guterres’s term ends on 31 December and a UN taken “back to basics”; in January it ordered an exit from 66 international organizations.
- —Senegal and Washington Since 1 January 2026 the US has suspended entry for Senegalese immigrants and for Senegalese travellers on B, F, M and J visas.
- —Prediction markets About 2% for Sall and about 30% for the front-runner, Grynspan, on Polymarket at 1:15 a.m. ET on Monday, 19 October.
- —Still open No candidate has clear backing from all five permanent members, and the next UN chief is due to take office on 1 January 2027.
Macky Sall, Senegal’s president from 2012 to 2024, pulled out of the race to become UN Secretary-General on Saturday, 17 October, a day after a Security Council straw poll in New York. On Sunday a close ally blamed rivalry among Russia, Europe and the United States for the opposition every candidate met, as the Dakar news site Seneweb streamed a live program on “the end of multilateralism” and Africa facing “the Trump shock.”
For American readers, the exit matters because Washington holds one of the five vetoes that decide the race and has been pulling out of international bodies since 2025. It also leaves Uganda’s Olara Otunnu as the only African in a contest led by Latin Americans, while Senegalese citizens face US visa curbs in force since January.
What Happened
In a statement on his official platforms, Sall said he withdrew after the informal vote of 16 October and after consulting Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye, who chairs the African Union, and Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who chairs the West African bloc ECOWAS. He said he hoped to help a consensus candidate emerge, as the test votes seemed to favor a Latin American or Caribbean candidate, possibly a woman.
Senegal’s state news agency, APS, reported that Sall had suffered “vetoes” from three of the five permanent members in Friday’s poll, the first with color-coded ballots that set their votes apart. In a straw poll these are “discourage” ballots rather than formal vetoes, and Hamidou Anne, who runs the analysis unit of Sall’s party, wrote that every candidate drew at least two of them.
The Council never publishes the tallies, but they leak after each round. Security Council Report, a New York research group, published fifth-round figures from 7 October giving Sall 5 “encourage” and 10 “discourage” votes, against 9 “encourage” votes for Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan.
Who Is Who
Sall founded and leads the Alliance for the Republic (APR), now in opposition, and his bid was formally sponsored by Burundi, not Senegal. Faye, whose camp defeated Sall’s in 2024, said in May he could not back the bid, complaining that Sall had not told him in person and that African leaders had pressed Dakar for a position, before his foreign ministry announced Senegal’s full support on 20 July.
Grynspan, a Costa Rican economist, heads UN Trade and Development, and Argentina’s Rafael Grossi heads the International Atomic Energy Agency. Otunnu is a Ugandan former UN under-secretary-general, Mike Waltz is the US ambassador to the UN, and the United States holds a permanent Council seat with China, Russia, Britain and France.
What Allies and Critics Say
Mame Mbaye Niang, a former minister close to Sall, said in a TikTok live reported on Sunday that “when you face a veto, you cannot be elected Secretary-General.” He argued that splits among Russia, the European countries and the United States explained the opposition every candidate met, and that Sall would not trade his principles for support.
Seydi Gassama, head of Amnesty International Senegal, said the withdrawal, if confirmed, would be a “crushing failure” and that Sall’s record on human rights and governance had been “a heavy handicap.” Writing on Monday, the columnist Babacar Justin Ndiaye called the bid “the mother of errors” and argued that a UN chief is a senior civil servant who answers to the five veto powers.
The Trump Factor
China and the United States were appointed to count the ballots in Friday’s round, and Washington’s veto means no candidate can win without its consent. After the poll Waltz told reporters the US wants the choice made “this calendar year, certainly before the end of Secretary-General Guterres’s term,” with “strong, energetic leadership” to take the UN “back to basics.”
That message comes from an administration that has stepped back from much of the multilateral system. A presidential memorandum of 7 January 2026 ordered the US out of 66 international organizations, following a February 2025 executive order that ended funding for some UN bodies.
Senegal has felt the shift directly. A proclamation in force since 1 January 2026 suspends entry for Senegalese immigrants and for holders of B, F, M and J visas, citing overstay rates of 4.30% on business and tourist visas and 13.07% on student and exchange visas.
What It Means for US Readers
The next Secretary-General will serve five years from 1 January 2027, and the US veto gives Washington a decisive say over who it is. Sall’s exit leaves six of the seven candidates who stood in Friday’s poll, five of them from Latin America and the Caribbean.
For American companies and travelers, the visa proclamation is the practical edge of the shift, since B visas cover business trips as well as tourism. Consular officers were also told to shorten the validity of other US visas issued to Senegalese nationals.
What Prediction Markets Say
On Polymarket, the contract on Sall becoming the next Secretary-General traded at about 2 cents at 1:15 a.m. ET on Monday, 19 October, which reads as a 2% chance, after more than US$125,000 in bets on that line, the most of any candidate. Grynspan led at about 30%, ahead of Grossi at about 20% and Ecuador’s María Fernanda Espinosa at about 16%.
Grynspan’s price had fallen about 7 points in the previous day and about 27 points over the past month. The whole market had drawn about US$229,000 in bets since it opened.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What Is Not Known
The Council does not publish straw poll results and the ballots are secret, so which permanent members discouraged Sall is not confirmed. Washington has not said how it voted in any round.
It is not known when the Council will hold its next straw poll, or whether it can agree on a name before Guterres’s term ends on 31 December. It is also unclear whether new candidates will enter, including from Africa.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Macky Sall withdraw from the UN Secretary-General race?
He said he wanted to help a consensus candidate emerge after the 16 October straw poll, which seemed to favor a Latin American or Caribbean candidate. Senegal’s state news agency reported that three of the five permanent Council members had opposed him.
Can the United States block a UN Secretary-General candidate?
Yes, because the United States is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. A formal veto from any of them stops a candidate from being recommended.
Who is leading the race to succeed António Guterres?
Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan led the leaked straw poll tallies before Friday’s round and the Polymarket prices on 19 October. No candidate has yet won clear backing from all five permanent members.
What US visa restrictions apply to Senegal?
Since 1 January 2026 a US proclamation has suspended entry for Senegalese nationals as immigrants or on B, F, M and J visas. Consular officers were also told to shorten the validity of other visas issued to them.
When does the new UN Secretary-General take office?
The new Secretary-General is due to start on 1 January 2027, when António Guterres’s second term ends. The Security Council recommends a candidate and the 193-member General Assembly makes the appointment.
Sources: APS, Macky Sall withdraws his candidacy (with his statement), 17 October 2026, Seneweb, Macky Sall withdraws his candidacy, 17 October 2026, Security Council Report, sixth straw poll and fifth-round results, 15 October 2026, PassBlue, first color-coded poll and remarks by Ambassador Mike Waltz, 16 October 2026, Seneweb, statement by Hamidou Anne (APR), 17 October 2026, Seneweb, Mame Mbaye Niang on the withdrawal, 18 October 2026, Seneweb, Seydi Gassama on the withdrawal, 17 October 2026, Seneweb, Babacar Justin Ndiaye, opinion, 19 October 2026, Seneweb TV, live program on the end of multilateralism, 18 October 2026, APS, President Faye on pressure from African peers, 3 May 2026, APS, Senegal’s official support for the bid, 20 July 2026, APS, President Faye on the bid and financial reform, 24 September 2026, The White House, memorandum withdrawing from international organizations, 7 January 2026, The White House, fact sheet on the 66 organizations, 7 January 2026, The White House, proclamation restricting entry, 16 December 2025. Prediction market prices: Polymarket, “Next Secretary-General of the United Nations”, read at 1:15 a.m. ET on 19 October 2026. All retrieved 19 October 2026.
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