Candidates line up for next U.N. secretary general race

By tradition, Kofi Annan's replacement as United Nations secretary-general will come from Asia, which is next in the regional rotation.

So far, the announced candidates are from South Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.


United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan addresses members of the Security Council during a meeting on the situation in the Middle East, July 20, 2006, at United Nations headquarters in New York. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer via Yahoo News.

In a secret poll, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and India's Shashi Tharoor, U.N. undersecretary-general or public affairs came out ahead of the pack, but it's still far too early to pick a winner.

Usually the winning candidate ends up being someone who emerges late in the race and who hardly campaigns at all. This is because early candidates often become the subject of infighting between the permanent members of the Security Council.