The United Nations cultural agency will choose the new chairman of its 58-nation executive board tomorrow, one of the most important jobs at the Paris-based organisation.

Two diplomats were in the running to head the executive board – Vera El-Khoury Lacoeuilhe, backed by the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia, works for a billionaire with a money-laundering conviction while the other, Marcela Losardo, is from politically volatile Argentina.

Both candidacies have generated controversy, creating a “climate of anxiety” ahead of the vote, one diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

After hard-right libertarian Milei was elected president in Argentina on Sunday, some ambassadors said the South American country’s Unesco representative Losardo no longer stood a chance.

Several insiders have said Milei – who is in favour of cutting spending on education and science and says people should be allowed to sell their organs freely – is the antithesis of Unesco’s values.

Argentina defused the crisis by withdrawing Losardo’s candidacy in a letter to member states, which was seen by AFP yesterday.