Egypt's Ambassador to France and UNESCO Ihab Badawi expected neck-and-neck competition for the elections of UNESCO general director post, to take place on October 9.

Eight candidates are running to succeed UNESCO's Bulgarian Irina Bokova after the withdrawal of the Guatemalan candidate.

Speaking to MENA on the sidelines of the 202nd session of UNESCO executive council, Badawi expressed hope that the other Arab nominees to the post would withdraw for the sake of Egypt's nominee Moshira Khattab.

The eight candidates are: Khattab from Egypt, Vera El Khoury from Lebanon, Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari from Qatar, French Audrey Azoulay, Chinese Qian Tang, Polad Bülbüloğlu of Azerbaijan, Pham Sanh Chau of Vietnam, and Saleh Mahdi Al Hasnawi of Iraq.

Fifty-eight members of the UNESCO Executive Council will hold meetings from October 4 to 18 at the UNESCO headquarters under the chairmanship of Michael Worbs, Germany’s ambassador to UNESCO, to choose the candidate.

The person to be nominated by the Executive Board will be chosen by secret ballot, during a vote that will take place during the board’s 202nd session in October 2017.

Subsequently, the Chairperson of the Board shall inform the General Conference, during its 39th session in November 2017, of the candidate nominated by the Board. The General Conference shall consider this nomination and then elect, by secret ballot, the person proposed by the Executive Board.

Source: MENA