Ecuadorean FM Espinosa to be UN General Assembly president after rare contested election

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa was elected president of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. The mainly ceremonial role nonetheless carries a high profile and important procedural functions. Espinosa defeated Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake of Honduras by 128 votes to 62, with two abstentions, Reuters said. Espinosa will become the fourth woman ever to hold the UNGA presidency and the first since Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa from Bahrain in 2006-2007. Espinosa will assume the position in September at the start of the 73rd UN General Assembly. The position is normally filled by consensus without a vote. It was the turn for Latin America and the Caribbean to nominate the assembly president based on a pre-agreed geographical rotation.