ASSEMBLY FILLS THREE MORE VACANCIES ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Press Release
GA/9341

ASSEMBLY FILLS THREE MORE VACANCIES ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

In two rounds of voting this afternoon, the General Assembly elected India, Oman and Poland to fill three of four remaining vacancies on the Economic and Social Council. In two rounds of secret balloting this morning, 14 other countries obtained the required two-thirds majority for election to the Council.

Since no candidate from the Latin American and Caribbean States received two thirds of the vote, the Assembly will hold another election on Monday, 3 November, to fill the remaining seat.

A third of the Council's 54 members retire each year. Candidates are elected according to the following pattern of geographic distribution: 14 from among the African States; 11 from the Asian States; six from Eastern European States; 10 from Latin American and Caribbean States; and 13 from Western European and Other States. To maintain that distribution, vacated seats are filled by members of the same regional group.

The countries elected this morning were Algeria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, the Comoros, Italy, Lesotho, Mauritius, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Viet Nam, and the United States.

The outgoing members are Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, the Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, India, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, the Sudan, Thailand, Uganda, and the United States.

Member States remaining on the Council are Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Djibouti, El Salvador, Finland, France, Gabon, the Gambia, Germany, Guyana, Iceland, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, the Republic of Korea, Romania, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Zambia.

Prior to this afternoon's first round of voting, Georgia and Qatar withdrew their candidacies, and Malaysia withdrew before the next round.

Ballot Results

The results of this afternoon's first round of voting were as follows:

Asian States (two vacancies)

Number of ballot papers: 174 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 174 Abstentions: 1 Number of Members voting: 173 Required majority: 116

Number of votes obtained:

India 121 Oman 104 Malaysia 100

Eastern European States (one vacancy)

Number of ballot papers: 174 Number of invalid ballots: 3 Number of valid ballots: 171 Abstentions: 13 Number of Members voting: 158 Required majority: 106

Number of votes obtained:

Poland 158

Latin American and Caribbean States (one vacancy)

Number of ballot papers: 174 Number of invalid ballots: 2 Number of valid ballots: 172 Abstentions: 5 Number of Members voting: 167 Required majority: 112

Number of votes obtained:

Peru 91 Guatemala 76

General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9341 41st Meeting (PM) 30 October 1997

The results of this afternoon's second round of voting were:

Asian States (one vacancy)

Number of ballot papers: 171 Number of invalid ballots: 2 Number of valid ballots: 169 Abstentions: 6 Number of Members voting: 163 Required majority: 109

Number of votes obtained:

Oman 163

Latin American and Caribbean States (one vacancy)

Number of ballot papers: 171 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 171 Abstentions: 1 Number of Members voting: 170 Required majority: 114

Number of votes obtained:

Peru 92 Guatemala 78

The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, 31 October, to consider its agenda item, "Towards a Culture of Peace".

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