Palestine withdraws Riyad Mansour's candidacy for 81st UNGA presidency

Palestine’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations has withdrawn the candidacy of Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s permanent observer to the UN, for the presidency of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), according to an announcement made by UNGA President Annalena Baerbock on Thursday, 26 February.

The withdrawal was attributed to current conditions in Palestine, Baerbock stated in a letter to all permanent representatives and permanent observers to the UN.

In accordance with the established regional rotation mechanism, the president of the 81st UNGA session will be selected from the Asia-Pacific group.

Following Mansour’s withdrawal, two candidates remain in contention for the position: Md. Touhid Hossain from Bangladesh and Andreas S. Kakouris from Cyprus.

According to a note circulated to media, Baerbock will hold informal dialogues with the two remaining candidates in May, with the election process to be held on 2 June.