Olara Otunnu is a Ugandan diplomat who has long represented his country at the United Nations. Later, he served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and also became the first Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. Throughout his career, he has gained a reputation for being able to find compromises even during periods of acute international tension. Among his achievements was his participation in the diplomatic settlement during the crisis over Grenada in 1983, when he chaired the Credentials Committee of the UN General Assembly. It is this experience that Uganda cites today as the main proof that Otunnu possesses the necessary qualities to lead the United Nations in an era of increasing geopolitical conflicts.
The «Otunnu formula» refers to the mechanism of confidential preliminary voting, first used in December 1981, when Olara Otunnu headed the UN Security Council. At that time, the organization faced one of the most difficult diplomatic tasks. The participating countries were sharply divided on the issue of the successor of Secretary General Kurt Waldheim. The confrontation between the United States and the USSR during the Cold War actually paralyzed the selection process, and numerous rounds of voting did not allow achieving an agreed result.
Otunnu, as Chairman of the Council, proposed a solution that was both simple and innovative. Instead of an open vote, which would only increase political tension and increase the risk of a veto, he introduced closed informal ballots. The Council members could anonymously express their support for the candidate, their objection to him, or their neutral position. This form allowed the diplomats to assess the real situation without undue pressure, identify the candidates with the best chance of agreement, and gradually exclude those who would most likely face an objection from one of the permanent members of the Council.
It was this mechanism that helped to overcome the crisis and paved the way for the election of Javier Perez de Cuellar from Peru, who was recommended by the Security Council and then confirmed by the General Assembly as UN Secretary General. Over time, this procedure has become the standard applied at each subsequent election of the head of the organization.
Formally, all 193 UN member states are involved in the process, but the decisive stage takes place in the Security Council, where 15 countries meet. The procedure consists of several consecutive steps. First, the States nominate their candidates. The applicants then present their vision of the future of the United Nations at informal meetings with the organization's members and conduct diplomatic work in an effort to expand support.
After that, the Security Council conducts a series of confidential preliminary ballots to determine which candidate is capable of obtaining the necessary consensus. This is where the Otunnu formula applies: it allows Council members to assess each other's positions before moving on to a formal decision.
This is especially important because the five permanent members of the Security Council — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — have the right of veto. If a candidate is resisted by at least one of them, his chances of going further are extremely low. When the Council comes to an agreement, it formally recommends the candidate to the General Assembly. The 193-member Assembly then approves the Secretary-General, usually also by consensus.
Prior to the introduction of confidential pre-voting, the process of selecting a Secretary General often took place in an atmosphere of open political confrontation. In such circumstances, it was difficult for governments to change their positions without losing face in front of their allies and opponents.
The Otunnu formula has changed the very logic of negotiations. She created a space for quiet diplomacy in which countries could honestly express their preferences without external pressure. Candidates, in turn, received a clearer understanding of their prospects even before the official vote.
Later, the system was improved: the ballots began to be distinguished by color, so that it could be determined whether the objection came from a permanent member of the Council or from a non-permanent one. But with all the changes, the main principle proposed by Otunnu has remained — agreement is achieved through closed consultations and a gradual convergence of positions.
The United Nations is once again preparing to select the next Secretary-General: Antonio Guterres' term of office is coming to an end. Uganda has nominated Olara Otunnu for this post, and he finds himself in a unique situation: he is applying for a position that the very mechanism of choice once helped to change.
Supporters of his candidacy emphasize that Otunnu's participation in the creation of a system of confidential preliminary voting is a direct evidence of the diplomatic approach that the United Nations especially needs today. In a world where wars, humanitarian crises, climate threats, and great Power rivalries are on the rise, the ability to build patient consensus is becoming critically important.
Even if Otunnu does not lead the UN, his name will forever be associated with one of the key mechanisms of international diplomacy. Thanks to the «Otunnu formula», every new process for selecting a Secretary General begins with a procedure that goes back to the Ugandan diplomat, who managed to find common ground where the world's strongest powers were powerless.
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