UN Assembly Pushes Back Security Council Reform
November 25, 1998 - 0:0
UNITED NATIONS The UN General Assembly on Monday failed for the fifth consecutive year to agree on reform of the powerful 15-member Security Council. The assembly instead approved a resolution by consensus that would set a high two-thirds majority threshold on any vote connected to a change in the council, thereby, in effect, killing reform in the near future. But the assembly said discussions would continue.
The resolution also said that council reform could not be bound by any imposed timeframe, guaranteeing that the discussions would drag on endlessly despite insistent calls for expansion of the council for the past five years. The Security Council has five veto-bearing permanent members the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, chosen because they were victorious Allied powers at the end of World War II. It also has 10 nonpermanent members, divided among regions and elected for two-year terms.
With 185 UN members, there are nearly as many opinions. Many regional powers are seeking to enhance their own chances of permanent council membership or to undermine the prospects of regional rivals. Egypt's Ambassador Nabil Elaraby took the lead in pushing the resolution, but the document was also a victory for Italy, whose ambassador, Paulo Fulci, has been single-minded in making sure Germany did not become the third European permanent member in the council.
Instead he has advocated enlarging the number of nonpermanent seats by eight to 10 seats. While that proposal has its opponents, Fulci said he was willing to support any increase in nonpermanent seats for the time being. Fulci's campaign in general has been supported by Pakistan, which opposes any potential membership for India, as well as many medium-sized states, including Canada and Mexico. Almost all countries support reform of the council, responsible for peace and security and whose decisions are binding on all states, saying that its division of power is hopelessly outdated.
Germany's UN Ambassador Dieter Kastrup said Bonn had never supported the quick-fix solution its own and Japanese membership without other countries on the council. But he said the endless discussions helped no one. Aren't five years sufficient for consideration? he said. Shouldn't we leave the field of discussions and move forward to make the politically necessary decisions. He said the council reform group, called the open-ended working group, could turn into the never-ending working group.
But he acknowledged that votes were lacking to force the council to come to a meaningful solution by the year 2000. The United States, which supports Germany and Japan for permanent membership, wants to limit the number of total seats to no more than 20 or 21, a level the vast majority of delegations find unacceptable. Britain said that it wanted an increase in five permanent seats, three for developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and two for industrialized nations.
Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said the overall size of the council could reach 24. (Reuter)
The resolution also said that council reform could not be bound by any imposed timeframe, guaranteeing that the discussions would drag on endlessly despite insistent calls for expansion of the council for the past five years. The Security Council has five veto-bearing permanent members the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, chosen because they were victorious Allied powers at the end of World War II. It also has 10 nonpermanent members, divided among regions and elected for two-year terms.
With 185 UN members, there are nearly as many opinions. Many regional powers are seeking to enhance their own chances of permanent council membership or to undermine the prospects of regional rivals. Egypt's Ambassador Nabil Elaraby took the lead in pushing the resolution, but the document was also a victory for Italy, whose ambassador, Paulo Fulci, has been single-minded in making sure Germany did not become the third European permanent member in the council.
Instead he has advocated enlarging the number of nonpermanent seats by eight to 10 seats. While that proposal has its opponents, Fulci said he was willing to support any increase in nonpermanent seats for the time being. Fulci's campaign in general has been supported by Pakistan, which opposes any potential membership for India, as well as many medium-sized states, including Canada and Mexico. Almost all countries support reform of the council, responsible for peace and security and whose decisions are binding on all states, saying that its division of power is hopelessly outdated.
Germany's UN Ambassador Dieter Kastrup said Bonn had never supported the quick-fix solution its own and Japanese membership without other countries on the council. But he said the endless discussions helped no one. Aren't five years sufficient for consideration? he said. Shouldn't we leave the field of discussions and move forward to make the politically necessary decisions. He said the council reform group, called the open-ended working group, could turn into the never-ending working group.
But he acknowledged that votes were lacking to force the council to come to a meaningful solution by the year 2000. The United States, which supports Germany and Japan for permanent membership, wants to limit the number of total seats to no more than 20 or 21, a level the vast majority of delegations find unacceptable. Britain said that it wanted an increase in five permanent seats, three for developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and two for industrialized nations.
Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said the overall size of the council could reach 24. (Reuter)