Bangladeshs Foreign Minister wins UN General Assembly presidency over Cyprus

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Elected as 81st President of United Nations General Assembly

Khalilur Rahman, a career diplomat with extensive experience at the United Nations, has been elected as the 81st president of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly. He will assume office in September, following the UNGA session’s opening.

Rahman defeated Cyprus’s Ambassador Andreas Kakouris in a closely contested vote to take on the role of leading the world’s most representative diplomatic body during a time of global geopolitical turmoil. Rahman joined Bangladesh’s foreign service in 1979 and held senior UN positions in New York and Geneva, including as spokesperson for Least Developed Countries and special adviser to the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Rahman became foreign minister in February after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the country’s first election since a student-led uprising ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. He previously served as national security adviser and high representative on the Rohingya issue in the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

The presidency of the UNGA is largely ceremonial, but it also holds prestige as the UN organ where countries can speak and gather for the world’s largest annual diplomatic event. Rahman secured 99 votes in a secret ballot, defeating Kakouris by eight votes, out of 190 ballots cast.

Outgoing UNGA President Annalena Baerbock noted that trust towards multilateralism is under strain, with consensus increasingly difficult to achieve and defence of the UN Charter becoming “a daily necessity”. The US administration has taken steps to undermine the UN system, including withdrawing from several organizations. Rahman’s presidency will coincide with the selection of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s successor, who will expire at the end of this year.

Rahman expressed his commitment to ensuring the success of both the General Assembly and the United Nations as a whole. He stated that “the challenges facing our organisation are being tested on multiple fronts” and that it is essential to maintain public trust and confidence in the UN’s ability to deliver its promises.

Source: Al Jazeera