The 67-year-old Guterres (above) received 11 "encourage," two "discourage," and two "no opinion" votes during the informal vote held Friday by the 15-member Security Council.

The former UN refugee chief had a slightly weaker showing than in the first round last month, but increased his lead over the other candidates in the race to succeed current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Vuk Jeremic of Serbia is currently in second place

Guterres, who was Portugal's center-left Socialist prime minister from 1995 to 2002 and served as UN high commissioner for refugees until the end of last year, has emerged as one of the expected front-runners after setting out his platform at the first-ever open hearing for candidates for the top UN post in April.

Serbia's former Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic made a surprisingly strong showing in the secret poll, taking the second spot with eight "encourage" votes, four "discourage" votes and three "no opinion".

Changing positions

Slovenia's former President Danilo Turk, who came second in the first round of voting, dropped to fourth place. Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra took third place, becoming the leading woman in the race, climbing from eighth place. Malcorra is ahead of UNESCO chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, who fell from third to fifth place.

Former Macedonian Foreign Minister Srgjan Kerim came in sixth followed by New Zealand's ex-Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica, the UN official who played a key role in shaping last December's historic agreement to fight climate change, was in eighth place followed by former Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman, Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak and Montenegro's Foreign Minister Igor Luksic.

The Security Council members decided not to reveal the results of their voting, but the results were quickly leaked, just as the results of the first informal poll on July 21.

Race still open

Analysts said the vote still leaves the race open, with additional "straw" polls expected in the coming weeks after Guterres failed to get no "discourage" votes, which several diplomats said would have almost certainly led to his recommendation for the post.

According to the United Nations Charter, the secretary-general is chosen by the 193-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. In practice, this has meant that the council's five permanent members - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - have veto power over the candidates. The decision is expected in October, so the new UN chief can begin his or her five-year term on January 1.

Susana Malcorra could be the first female UN chief

The UN is facing pressure to ensure that the candidate comes from an Eastern European nation, countries which have never before filled the role. Several nations are also campaigning for the first female UN chief.

The Security Council will hold secret ballots until a consensus is reached on a candidate to replace UN chief Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who steps down at the end of 2016 after serving two five-year terms.

Croatia's ex-Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic pulled out on Thursday after she picked up the lowest score in the first round, and diplomats said they expected others among the remaining 11 candidates to withdraw as the polling continues.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary Across countries and continents The global celebration kicked off in New Zealand on Saturday and then on to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, moving across countries and continents. In this picture, students in Almaty, Kazakhstan, make a UN sign at the city's United Nations office.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary 'Turn the World UN Blue' Kuala Lumpur's landmark Petronas Twin Towers turned blue, the official color of the United Nations, to mark the anniversary. According to a UN statement, more than 75 countries around the world are participating in the campaign "Turn the World UN Blue" by illuminating their most famous landmarks.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary October 24, 1945 In China, a section of the Great Wall was lit up to mark the anniversary. October 24, 1945 was the day when the UN Charter came into force. On Friday, the General Assembly unanimously passed a declaration reaffirming the faith of the 193 member states in the United Nations.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary Bathed in blue The UN headquarters in New York was the first building to be bathed in blue, already on Friday. Organizers of the campaign decided to light up the UN office for two nights instead of one, as the UN member states pledged to support the UN's determination "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war."

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary UN Day concert On Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the UN Day Concert, jointly organized by the UN, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN, and the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) at the UN headquarters in New York.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary Pisa The famous leaning tower of Pisa turned blue to honor the international organization.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary Tribute from Amman The Jordanian capital also paid tribute to the United Nations, lighting up the Le Royal Hotel.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary Seven decades of defending human rights Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly that over the past seven decades the UN had brought "freedom to millions [...] and defended human rights for all, regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender or sexual orientation." On Saturday, people visited the UN's European headquarters during the Open Day in Geneva.

The world turns blue to mark UN's 70th anniversary A better world In New York, Ban ceremonially lit up a model of the Empire State building to commemorate the anniversary. Among those standing with him were Kang Min-Kyung (left) and Lee Hae-ri (right) of the Korean pop duo Davichi, and Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang. "Without the United Nations, our world would be a far bleaker place," Ban said. Author: Shamil Shams



mm/cmk (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)