ASSEMBLY ELECTS 18 NEW MEMBERS TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, IN FOUR ROUNDS OF BALLOTING
Press Release
GA/9501
ASSEMBLY ELECTS 18 NEW MEMBERS TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, IN FOUR ROUNDS OF BALLOTING
19981112 Three-Year Terms To Become Effective 1 January 1999In four rounds of balloting today, the General Assembly elected 18 members to fill vacancies on the 54-member Economic and Social Council. The newly elected members will begin their three-year terms on 1 January 1999.
During the first round of voting, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Venezuela were elected as new members. Canada, China, Russian Federation and United Kingdom were re-elected by the first ballot. Bulgaria was elected during the third round of voting and the Czech Republic during the fourth.
The elections today were for seats being vacated on 31 December by Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Gabon, Guyana, Jordan, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Romania, Russian Federation, Sweden, Togo, Tunisia and United Kingdom.
A third of the Economic and Social Council members retire each year. Candidates to fill vacant seats are elected by secret ballot, with a two- thirds majority of votes cast.
Members of the Council are elected according to the following pattern of geographic distribution: 14 from among the African States; 11 from 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 will be filled by members of the same regional group.
To maintain that distribution, those elected today represent regional groups, as follows: four from the African States; four from Asian States; three from Eastern European States; three from Latin American and Caribbean States; and four from the Western European and Other States.
Member States who remain on the Council are Algeria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Cuba, Djibouti, El Salvador, France, Gambia, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United States, Viet Nam and Zambia.
The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 16 November, to consider strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance, and to take action on related draft resolutions.
The results of the first round of voting were as follows:
African States (four vacancies)
Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 174 Abstentions: 4 Number of Members voting: 170 Required majority: 114
Number of votes obtained:
Democratic Republic of the Congo 150 Guinea-Bissau 165 Morocco 167 Rwanda 153 Congo 6 Togo 2 Cameroon 1 Egypt 1 Guinea 1
Asian States (four vacancies)
Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Abstentions: 2 Number of Members voting: 173 Required majority: 116
General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9501 56th Meeting (AM & PM) 12 November 1998
Number of votes obtained:
China 140 Indonesia 142 Saudi Arabia 138 Syria 117 Turkmenistan 114 Uzbekistan 2 Bangladesh 1
Eastern European States (three vacancies)
Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Abstentions: 3 Number of Members voting: 172 Required majority: 115
Number of votes obtained:
Bulgaria 98 Czech Republic 98 Republic of Moldova 86 Russian Federation 120 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 84
Latin American and Caribbean States (three vacancies)
Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Abstentions: 3 Number of Members voting: 172 Required majority: 115
Number of votes obtained:
Bolivia 133 Ecuador 117 Honduras 126 Venezuela 118 Argentina 2 Jamaica 1 Peru 1
General Assembly Plenary - 4 - Press Release GA/9501 56th Meeting (AM & PM) 12 November 1998
Western European and Other States (four vacancies)
Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 3 Number of valid ballots: 172 Abstentions: 16 Number of Members voting: 156 Required majority: 104
Number of votes obtained:
Canada 152 Denmark 149 Norway 151 United Kingdom 148 Finland 2 Germany 2 Sweden 2 Ireland 1 Italy 1 Netherlands 1
Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, Bolivia, Canada, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Norway, Rwanda, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Kingdom and Venezuela were elected.
Two seats remained to be filled from the Eastern European States. The Assembly proceeded to a restricted ballot.
The results of the second round of voting were as follows:
Eastern European States (remaining two vacancies)
Number of ballot papers: 170 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 170 Abstentions: 4 Number of Members voting: 166 Required majority: 111
Number of votes obtained:
Bulgaria 107 Czech Republic 85 Republic of Moldova 67 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 60
General Assembly Plenary - 5 - Press Release GA/9501 56th Meeting (AM & PM) 12 November 1998
Since no candidate obtained the required two-thirds majority, the Assembly proceeded to a second restricted ballot.
The results of the third round of voting were as follows:
Eastern European States (remaining two vacancies)
Number of ballot papers: 168 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 168 Abstentions: 3 Number of Members voting: 165 Required majority: 110
Number of votes obtained:
Bulgaria 128 Czech Republic 109 Republic of Moldova 54 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 30
Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, Bulgaria was elected. The Assembly proceeded to a third restricted ballot with the two States from among the Group which were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely the Czech Republic and the Republic of Moldova.
The results of the fourth round of voting were as follows:
Eastern European States (remaining one vacancy)
Number of ballot papers: 165 Number of invalid ballots: 7 Number of valid ballots: 158 Abstentions: 3 Number of Members voting: 155 Required majority: 104
Number of votes obtained:
Czech Republic 117 Republic of Moldova 38
Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, the Czech Republic was elected.
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