Srgjan Kerim

NEW YORK - A fourth round of the vote to select the new UN secretary-general was held at the UN headquarters in New York Friday, with former Portuguese PM Antonio Guterres still leading the race as Serbia's candidate Vuk Jeremic remains in third position, but with two more encourage votes than in the previous round.

Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's candidate for Secretary General of the UN, remained fifth after today's straw poll of the Security Council in New York.

Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, has officially announced she is running for the UN Secretary-General's office.

Clark, who at the moment heads the UN Development Program, is seen as a strong rival to UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. To date, the latter has been described as a "frontrunner" in the race.

Between April 12 and 14, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly will hold informal dialogues with the seven candidates for UN Secretary-General who have been nominated so far.

This was stated in a letter released by UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft, outlining the rules and schedule of hearings.

Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's former Foreign Minister and current UNESCO Director-General, appears to be "by far the strongest candidate from Eastern Europe" to be the next UN Secretary General, a recent ranking shows.

If Macedonia's government has its own way, Srgjan Kerim will replace Ban Ki-moon as the next UN Secretary General next year.