Former President of Senegal Macky Sall has withdrawn his candidacy for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations. He made the announcement on Saturday 17 October 2026, the day after an informal vote in the Security Council.
In a statement posted on social media and published on his campaign site, Sall said he had taken the decision following the informal vote of 16 October and after consultations with His Excellency Mr Évariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi and current Chairperson of the African Union, and His Excellency Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal and current Chairperson of ECOWAS.
He stated that he acted “with a deep sense of responsibility” in the hope of contributing to the emergence of a consensus candidacy within the Security Council. According to Sall, the results of successive informal votes indicated a preference for a candidate from Latin America and the Caribbean, and possibly a woman.
Sall thanked President Ndayishimiye, whose government had formally nominated him, and President Faye for Senegal’s support. He also expressed gratitude to those members of the Security Council who had voted in his favour, to his campaign team, and to Senegalese citizens who had backed the bid.
Despite the withdrawal, he reaffirmed his commitment to the principles that motivated his candidacy, including peace, security, economic and social development, international cooperation, and dialogue among nations. He called for a profound transformation of the working methods and functioning of the United Nations in the face of multiplying conflicts, geopolitical rivalries, fragmentation of the international order, and severe economic challenges. He further stressed that Africa must continue to make its voice heard on these issues and to pursue its rightful place in global governance.
The 16 October poll was the sixth informal “straw poll” conducted by the 15-member Security Council as it seeks a successor to António Guterres, whose second term ends on 31 December 2026. Reports of the leaked results indicated that Sall received five “encourage” votes and ten “discourage” votes. All seven candidates in the field received at least one “discourage” ballot from a permanent member of the Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), effectively signalling potential vetoes. Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, the former head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, remained the leading candidate with nine “encourage” votes, though she too faced opposition from permanent members. Other prominent contenders included Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
Sall’s candidacy had been formally submitted by Burundi on 2 March 2026. An attempt to secure formal endorsement from the African Union failed in late March when twenty member states objected or sought more time. Senegal later extended its support. His withdrawal removes one of the two African candidates from a race that has so far failed to produce a clear consensus acceptable to all five permanent members of the Security Council.
By John James
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