New York: Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman has been elected President of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session on Tuesday after defeating Andreas Kakouris of Cyprus in a closely contested vote, positioning himself to steer the world body through a pivotal year marked by intensifying global crises, UN reform efforts and major leadership transitions.

In a secret-ballot election, Khalilur Rahman secured 99 votes to Kakouris’s 91. A total of 190 ballots were cast, with no invalid votes or abstentions.

The presidency rotates among the UN’s five regional groups, and the 81st session falls to the Asia-Pacific group. Khalilur Rahman will serve a one-year term starting on 8 September.

His presidency will coincide with one of the most consequential processes on the UN calendar: the selection of Secretary-General António Guterres’s successor, whose term ends on December 31, 2026.