The handover of the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) presidency will be in September.

This was confirmed to the Fiji Sun by the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Robin Nair.

Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Peter Thomson, will be the new president. He replaces Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark whose term started last September.

Mr Thomson’s tenure starts in September at the commencement of the 71st General Assembly session. He defeated Andreas Mavroyiannis of Cyprus by a secret ballot vote of 94 to 90, with one abstention.

A UN release said the selection of the president of the General Assembly followed a geographical rotation system, with respective regional groups putting forward a consensus candidate every year.

“If a group cannot reach consensus on a nominee, a vote by secret ballot will take place,” the release said.

Mr Thomson said his election marked the first time that a representative of a Pacific Small Island Developing State will serve as Assembly president.

As a representative of such a State, he said he planned to be vocal on the issue of climate change.