Ecuador's FM becomes UN General Assembly president

By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces on Tuesday was elected as the next president of the UN General Assembly.

She became the fourth woman president in the UN's 73-year history after defeating her rival candidate Honduras' envoy to the UN Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake by a 128-62 vote, with three abstentions.

Espinosa, who dedicated the election to "all the women in the world who participate in politics today and who face political and media attacks marked by machismo and discrimination", will now take over from the current council President, Miroslav Lajcak, in September and continue until September 2019.

While the presidency of the General Assembly is largely ceremonial, it is also prestigious and the world body does control the UN budget and adopts treaties as well as passes numerous resolutions that are not legally binding but generally reflect global opinion.

The session of the assembly is scheduled for every year starting in September -- any special, or emergency special, assemblies over the next year will be headed by the president of the UN General Assembly.

The president simply presides over the meetings, observing the parliamentary rules of order, calling on speakers, adjourning the meeting, and so forth. It's not an executive position. The actual boss of the UN is the secretary-general.

World leaders come together every year in September to hold UN General Assembly meetings in New York, where the UN headquarters is located, enabling diplomatic solutions to global problems and politics of countries.