New York, Rajab 08, 1437, April 15, 2016, SPA -- The first-ever public hearings with candidates for the post of UN secretary general ended Thursday after 18 hours of questions and answers over three days with nine candidates in the running, according to dpa. The hearings mark a significant step to allow public scrutiny of the next UN chief after the organization's top post had been decided through secret negotiations and backroom deals among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council for the past 70 years. The nine candidates, including former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who are considered front-runners, answered questions from UN member states during two-hour hearings. Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark, the current president of the UN General Assembly, who chaired the hearings, said that he was impressed by the new transparency despite skepticism from some member states over the impact the public sessions will have on the outcome. "It has already made a difference - we have established a new standard of transparency and inclusivity ... it has all the potential also to influence the final outcome of the selection of the secretary general," Lykketoft said. The Security Council is expected to hold straw polls starting July and recommend one candidate for the post to the General Assembly by the end of September. The next secretary general will take office January 1 after the current head of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, completes his second consecutive five-year term. --SPA 03:37 LOCAL TIME 00:37 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w