ASSEMBLY HEARS 17 MORE SPEAKERS ON QUESTION OF EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION, INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP OF SECURITY COUNCIL
Press Release
GA/8994
ASSEMBLY HEARS 17 MORE SPEAKERS ON QUESTION OF EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION, INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP OF SECURITY COUNCIL
19951113 Negotiations should now proceed to a concrete reform package, which should include a limited increase in the permanent membership of the Security Council, the representative of Japan told the Assembly, as it continued its consideration of reform of the Security Council. The open-ended working group of the Assembly on the equitable representation on and increase in membership of the Security Council should also pursue greater efficiency, he said.The representative of Austria said any future enlargement of the Security Council should preserve as much as possible the present balanced configuration of permanent and non-permanent seats. General criteria for the choice of new permanent members must be the political and economic realities, the global influence of potential candidates, and their capacity and willingness to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security.
The representative of Kenya supported expansion of the Security Council to 25 members to correct existing imbalances. Membership should be based on the principle of equitable geographic representation, and regions that were underrepresented, or not represented in the permanent seat category, should be favoured in the allocation of new seats.
The veto power for permanent Council members negated the principle of the sovereign equality of countries and was an anachronism, the representative of Malaysia said. The Council must move away from such arrangements of entrenched power and should also apportion seats to regions instead of to specific countries.
Statements were also made this afternoon by the representatives of Argentina, Singapore, Mexico, Canada, Spain, United Kingdom, Malta, Belize, Algeria, France, Turkey, Australia and Denmark.
The Assembly will meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 14 November, to continue its consideration of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue considering the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council.
EMILIO CARDENAS (Argentina) said the reform of the Security Council would have such serious consequences that it should be considered very prudently and not be made subject to artificially established deadlines. Among the questions needing consideration was the expansion of the membership of the International Court of Justice on which each Security Council permanent member has traditionally had a seat. Given that each region had its own characteristics and peculiarities, it might be arbitrary to seek to establish parameters that would be universally applicable to every continent.
Eventually, he said, an expansion of the Security Council could be based on a new and imaginative mechanism directed towards improving representativeness by means of rotation formulas. Those formulas would permit those countries most interested in working for the maintenance of peace and international security to participate in the Council, while not requiring arbitrary exclusion or the establishment of new privileges that would further undermine the equity of the Council. Greater transparency had been achieved from meetings now being held between the Council and troop-contributing countries.
HISASHI OWADA (Japan) said the functioning of the Security Council should be strengthened. The reform package should include a limited increase in its permanent membership. Many countries had expressed their support for adding specific countries, including Japan. The expanded number of permanent members might also include countries from developing regions. It was also necessary to increase the number of non-permanent members of the Council, with the total number of members kept in the "low twenties". Attention should be given to geographical representation.
He said the final outcome should integrate the need for expanding the Council and improving its working methods. Members should work to reach agreement by the end of the current session of the Assembly. Negotiations should now proceed to a concrete reform package, and the working group should pursue greater efficiency.
VIJI MENON (Singapore) said the work of the open-ended working group in the last two years had been both necessary and fruitful. It had clarified many of the complex and interlinked issues. Specific proposals on the reform of the Security Council had also emerged. The position of many Member States had become more clearly defined. The exercise had shifted from generalities to a substantive stage of negotiations. While differing opinions had to be recognized, the climate of dialogue had to be preserved. She was in favour of
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a criteria-based approach for the reform of the Council, but she would actively support the working group whatever the approach adopted.
MANUEL TELLO (Mexico) said there appeared to be support for an increase in the number of members of the Security Council. The report of the open- ended working group of the Assembly reflected a widespread desire for greater transparency, legitimacy, effectiveness, efficiency and democracy in the Security Council. However, there was no consensus on the number of additional members or their categories.
The mistakes of 1945 should not be repeated, he continued. The circumstances that had made it possible for five countries to enjoy a privileged position in the United Nations no longer existed. More members were needed in the Council, but new imbalances should not be created. A Council with new permanent members, with each of them enjoying privileges, would perhaps be no more effective than the present Council. Besides, the veto was an anti-democratic institution. He proposed that Security Council membership rise to 20 and that there be no increase in permanent membership. Further, there should be one seat each for Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, with another seat rotated every two years between eastern and western European countries.
ROBERT R. FOWLER (Canada) expressed pleasure at the advances achieved in increasing the Council's transparency and its consultations with non-members, especially with troop-contributing countries. The report presented by his country on a rapid reaction capacity for the United Nations deserved discussion in the working group. The suggestion by his country for the creation of semi-permanent seats on the Council, which would be shared for two-year periods by two or more countries, continued to merit further exploration.
He said that after two years of discussions, important differences continued to exist on important issues before the working group. It seemed difficult not to conclude that the addition of new permanent members to the Council seemed to have become more problematic, and that the working group had only examined in a preliminary fashion the thorny issue of extending the veto to possible new permanent members.
JUAN ANTONIO YAÑEZ-BARNUEVO (Spain) said the search for consensus was essential on a issue like reform of the Security Council, which was of such importance for the future of the United Nations. He supported a moderate increase in the number of Security Council members, for an eventual total of between 21 and 25 members.
Any enlargement of the Council must be accompanied by changes in the majorities required for the adoption of decisions, he continued. Following Article 27 of the Charter, distinctions should be made between three categories of decisions: those on procedural matters; those on substantiative
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matters not pertinent to Chapter VII of the Charter (that is, related to the peaceful settlement of disputes); and finally, those covered under Chapter VII which involved recourse to coercive measures. A different majority would be required to come to a decision in each of those categories. The more impact the potential decisions had, the larger the majority required. The veto power would be limited to the third category, decisions related to Chapter VII.
ELIZABETH WILMSHURST (United Kingdom) said her Government felt very strongly that there were certain countries which, by virtue of their global interests and their contribution to international peace, should be invited to accept the rights and responsibilities of permanent membership. It, therefore, supported German and Japanese permanent membership, and it believed there needed to be additional seats for Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The process of organic evolutionary change in the transparency of the Council's work should also continue. In general, the discussion of the enlargement of the Council had gone on for a long time. It was time to move from discussion to negotiation.
JOSEPH CASSAR (Malta) said the number of delegates who had requested to speak during this session indicated a willingness to retain the momentum of the work of the open-ended working group on the reform of the Security Council. His impression, however, was that discussions had not reached the stage for entering into actual negotiations. Discussions on the question of future categories of Council membership, for instance, were especially delicate. He viewed with great concern the proposal to lift the restriction on the immediate re-election of Security Council members.
Much had already been achieved in rendering the work of the Security Council more transparent, he said. He welcomed the practices instituted so far. However, regarding the working group's efforts, undue insistence on a rigid timetable could draw the process away from the open discussion that had thus far characterized the working group.
S. THANARAJASINGAM (Malaysia) said there was global momentum to make the Security Council representative and to improve its decision-making methods. The enlargement by itself would not resolve the complex issues confronting the Security Council. The Security Council must be comprehensively restructured and reformed. He believed that permanent seats should be given to regions, not to specific countries. The Organization must move away from practices that entrenched power. "The Council cannot remain nor become the permanent multilateral abode solely of the rich and the powerful.
The veto was a cardinal issue, he continued. Malaysia had consistently spoken against the veto power, since it negated the principle of sovereign equality of countries and was anachronistic. He also supported the proposal to establish general criteria to distinguish between procedural and substantive matters, to identify questions of "vital importance" on which the veto could be applied, and to modify use of the veto in Security Council
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voting. His delegation fully subscribed to the position of the Non-Aligned Movement.
EDWARD A. LAING (Belize) said there was broad agreement on reform of the veto, which was the quintessence of anti-popularism. The evidence for that conclusion was the silence of the major powers, which might have otherwise claimed that as a reserved domain. He believed that all five regions had to be equitably and democratically represented in the permanent membership of the Security Council. Each region deserved equal representation by two members and that would include four of the existing permanent members. Naming States for permanent membership was incompatible with the overarching premise of democracy. Dissolution of States raised the question of State succession and that question had arisen even with regard to a permanent member of the Council. Another undemocratic aspect of the whole question was that a vast majority of States had never served on the Council.
EDWARD A. LAING (Belize) said there was broad agreement on reform of the veto, which was the quintessence of anti-popularism. The evidence for that conclusion was the silence of the major powers, which might have otherwise claimed that as a reserved domain. He believed that all five regions had to be equitably and democratically represented in the permanent membership of the Security Council. Each region deserved equal representation by two members and that would include four of the existing permanent members. Naming States for permanent membership was incompatible with the overarching premise of democracy. Dissolution of States raised the question of State succession and that question had arisen even with regard to a permanent member of the Council. Another undemocratic aspect of the whole question was that a vast majority of States had never served on the Council.
RAMTANE LAMAMRA (Algeria) said the statement of Colombia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement reflected those of his delegation and the position expressed at Cartagena had clarified the working group's efforts. It must be recognized that the working group had entered a qualitatively new phase. The widespread expression of the desire to make the Security Council more participatory, democratic and transparent ran up against the fact that the Council had members that were pursuing contradictory goals. Other problems stemmed from the partial nature of proposals that were introduced into discussion.
ERNST SUCHARIPA (Austria) said any future enlargement of the Security Council should take place within existing categories by preserving as much as possible the present balanced configuration of permanent and non-permanent seats. The general criteria for new permanent members must be the current political and economic realities, the global influence of potential candidates, and their capacity to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security. The principle of equitable geographic representation had to be applied. Moreover, the veto should and could be limited in its scope and use.
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ALAIN DEJAMMET (France) said it was time to move into a negotiation phase that would allow Member States to progress towards concluding its discussions on enlargement of the Security Council. He was in favour of increasing the membership in the two existing categories, without changing the characteristics of those categories or threatening the Council's ability to act effectively and rapidly. Germany and Japan deserved to be included as permanent members, along with certain southern States whose importance in international affairs deserved to be recognized. Several new non-permanent seats would also be created, to increasing geographical representation on the Council.
However, it did not make sense to have permanent regional seats, since the permanent Council members were supposed to exercise their global responsibilities on behalf of all members of the Organization, he said. Similarly, he had reservations about the idea whereby Council members would be appointed at the discretion of regional groups. That idea did not conform to the principle that Council members must be judged on how they exercised their responsibilities by the Member States as a whole.
HUSEYIN E. CELEM (Turkey) said the next stage of deliberations of the open-ended working group should be held on the basis of concrete proposals. The increase in the number of seats in the Security Council must be accompanied by a fair system of rotation. The view of correlating the size of the Council to its efficiency was inherently misleading. The Council would be more effective when it was perceived by the world community as being more equitably representative of the general membership.
It was the view of the majority of Member States that only a Council with at least 25 members would be sufficiently representative, he said. The existing ratio of 1:3 between permanent and non-permanent members must be reorganized as 1:5. A new approach based on the replacement of the current large geographical groups by narrower constituencies was worth considering. Moreover, Turkey was convinced that transparency in the activities of the Council with respect to sanctions would ensure a wider support for their implementation.
RICHARD BUTLER (Australia) said three related issues -- the number of permanent members, their representative character and identities, and the use to which their powers were put (including the veto) -- were keys to agreement on a revised, modern Security Council. In addition, there was a fundamental need to produce a Council more representative of the United Nations as a whole but of a size which remained effective.
He said Australia believed that Japan and Germany should be accorded permanent seats. And, more generally, action was required. It was now time to seek a political consensus on a new Council.
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BENNY KIMBERG (Denmark), speaking on behalf of the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), said special attention should be given to equitable geographic representation on the Council. At the same time, it was important to ensure that changes in the exercise of the veto did not weaken the ability of the Council to carry out its responsibilities. The Nordic countries believed the total number of members should be in the low twenties, preferably 23. There should be better representation of Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. Regional groups should be encouraged to establish equitable systems of rotation among non-permanent members.
He said the Nordic countries welcomed changes already taken in the Council's working methods. It was particularly important that a decision occur on consultations between the Council and troop-contributing countries. It was also appropriate to move towards actual negotiations on the reform of the Council.
FRANCIS K. MUTHAURA (Kenya) said that his country supported the expansion of the membership of the Security Council on the basis of the principle of equitable geographic representation. Regions which were currently not represented or were underrepresented in the permanent seat category should be favoured in the allocation of new seats in both categories in order to correct the existing imbalances. Also, the Council should be expanded to include at least 25 members.
The current two-year term of office for non-permanent members of the Council had worked well and should therefore be continued, he said. However, the period of tenure for permanent membership needed to be pegged to a specific term, so that periodical reviews could be carried out at the end of the term, with the possibility of new permanent members being elected to replace the old ones. Moreover, the veto was a negative instrument that could not play a useful role in the world's changed circumstances, which were now characterized by consultation and consensus.
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