GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPENS DEBATE ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM, INCLUDING INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP AND EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION
Press Release
GA/9508
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPENS DEBATE ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM, INCLUDING INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP AND EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION
19981119 Decisions on Security Council expansion were related to Charter amendments and were, therefore, subject to adoption by the same two-thirds majority of the General Assembly membership as that specified by Article 108 on Charter amendments, the representative of Egypt told the Assembly this afternoon as it opened debate on reform of the Security Council, including expansion of its membership.The representative of Egypt, introducing a draft resolution on equitable representation and increased membership of the Council, said Heads of State of the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Durban, South Africa, in September had agreed that any resolution on Council reform and expansion with Charter amendment implications must be resolved according to the rules specified in Article 108.
[The terms of Article 108 of the Charter state that for an amendment to the present Charter to enter into force -- in addition to being adopted by a vote of two thirds of the General Assembly -- the amendment must be ratified by two thirds of the Organization's membership, including all permanent Council members, in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.]
The draft text introduced by Egypt, in addition to emphasizing that any resolution with Charter amendment implication must be adopted by the two thirds majority referred to in Article 108, would have the Assembly reiterate that the Assembly Open-Ended Working Group on Council reform would continue its work in 1999. In addition, while stressing that Security Council reform deserved urgent attention, the Assembly would state that its fundamental importance meant it could not be subjected to any imposed time-frame.
The representative of Brazil said it was legitimate that proponents of text before the Assembly did not wish to be surprised by a reform package draft that had not been previously negotiated in an open and democratic manner. Nonetheless, the solution proposed by the draft text -- if adopted -- would introduce a major change in the Assembly's procedures and modify the Organization's Charter itself. Such legal implications of the draft went beyond Council reform and could very well be used in the future to create
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obstacles for the advancement of important causes. What some delegations viewed as a possible insurance policy against an insufficiently pre-negotiated framework for Council reform was itself a problematic and insufficiently examined proposal.
The representative of Senegal said the member States of the Organization of African Unity claimed Africa should be given two permanent and two non- permanent seats to correct the existing imbalance on the Council. The permanent seats would be held by Africa and occupied on a rotation basis. That formula allowed for broad democratization and took into account the overall interests of Africa. Details on that formula had been submitted in July to the Open-Ended Working Group of the Assembly on Security Council reform.
The representative of Singapore said the major powers as well as the "middle powers" did not look to the Council for stability. It was the small States which did: the more than 50 per cent of the Member States which had populations of less than 10 million. If Council expansion made the decision- making process unwieldy, however, that would undermine the security of small States. To win over those countries, the proponents of Council reform must explain how their proposals would make that body more effective.
Offering a different perspective, the representative of Mexico said his delegation failed to understand how a Security Council with more permanent members could better represent all the States or become a more democratic organ. The so-called "permanent rotating seats" constituted one of the most flagrant deceits emerging from deliberations on the issue. To pretend that such a system would grant more prerogatives was a sophism. To think that a magic wand would give veto powers to those seats that lacked a fixed occupant was an illusion.
Statements were also made by the representatives of: Ukraine, Turkey, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Australia, Algeria, Russian Federation, Solomon Islands, Kyrgyzstan. The observer for Palestine also spoke.
The Assembly will meet again tomorrow at 10 a.m. to take up a report of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) and to continue its consideration of Security Council reform.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly meets this afternoon to begin its considerations of the question of the equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters.
The Assembly will have before it a draft resolution on the item (document A/53/L.16) by which it would stress that the matter of Security Council reform, while deserving urgent attention, is of such importance that it cannot be subjected to any imposed time-frame. It therefore recognizes the need to allow Member States time to reflect on the question so as to identify solutions on which general agreement can be reached. In that regard, the Assembly would emphasize that any resolution with Charter amendment implications must be adopted by the two-third majority of the United Nations membership referred to in Article 108 of the Charter.
The Assembly would also reiterate that the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and the Increase in the Membership of the Council and Other Matters Related to it shall continue its work in 1999 to examine all proposals and submit a report to the Assembly before the end of its current session.
Co-sponsoring the draft are: Afghanistan; Argentina; Canada; Colombia; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; Fiji; Gambia; Indonesia; Italy; Lebanon; Malta; Mexico; New Zealand; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Qatar; Republic of Korea; San Marino; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Solomon Islands; Spain; Swaziland; Syria; Turkey; and Zimbabwe.
Statements
NABIL A. ELARABY (Egypt) introduced the draft resolution on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council. He said any decisions related to expansion of the Security Council were related to amendments in the Charter and were therefore subject to the provisions of Article 108 of the Organization's Charter. Heads of State in the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Durban, South Africa, two months ago had agreed that any resolution with Charter amendment possibilities should be resolved according to the two-thirds majority rule specified in Article 108.
He said the draft text before the Assembly was of a procedural nature. It did not encroach on substance, or prejudice the position of any delegation with respect to Council reform. Any country that wished to enter as permanent or non-permanent member of the Council, or wished to reform the Council with respect to the veto or other issues such as "Cluster 1 and II" should do so according to the Charter. The resolution before the Assembly today aimed at ensuring that whenever any resolution was advanced the constitutional requirements of the organization would be faithfully observed. The text was
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therefore to uphold the Charter requirements as they appeared in Article 108. It was not aimed at the legitimate claims of any State. He recommended that the draft be adopted without a vote.
Speaking on behalf of Egypt, he said the issue before the Assembly was not only about reform of the Organization. It went further and addressed the restructuring of the Organization. It also had an impact on international relations, the role of the United Nations and its credibility. Heads of State of the Non-Aligned Movement had said that reform should not be restricted to a general time frame. The present draft resolution was the result of general agreement reached. The question to be asked was, who would contradict any resolution that called for the full implementation of the provisions of the Charter relating to amendments. Right now, the necessary two-thirds majority as specified in the Charter did not exist. He thought that when the Working Group resumed its work next year, it should continue to attempt to narrow the differences among Member States.
He said the veto was held by certain powers for historic reasons. Fifty years had elapsed since the establishment of the Council, but the veto power had still not clearly been defined. Limitation in the use of veto would be a step in the right direction and should also be taken up by the Working Group next year. Addressing expansion to rectify the imbalance in membership of the Council, he said the Non-Aligned Movement countries constituted approximately two thirds -- 114 countries -- of the United Nations. Yet, they were represented by four countries in the Council. Reform of the Council should therefore be based on equitable geographic representation. There should also be rotating seats for Africa. Giving the power of the veto to any State should be done with a clear delimitation on use and power. The fall-back position of the Non-Aligned Movement was that if agreement was not reached, then the number of non-permanent seats should be increased.
VOLODYMYR YEL'CHENKO (Ukraine) said that since there was still no consensus on the proposals contained in the drafts, it was very important to avoid a perspective of bringing them to a vote. What his delegation disapproved of was the fact that a vote on the proposals would lead to undesirable confrontation among Member States and destroy the atmosphere of confidence. The interest in the item under consideration was another confirmation of the refusal of the vast majority of the United Nations membership to accept the long-standing status quo in the Security Council. The apparent stalemate in the decision-seeking process was deeply disappointing. Nonetheless, Ukraine's firm position on the need of the reformed Security Council remained unchanged. The same reasons which forced Ukraine to seek election next year for the non-permanent membership in the Council for 2000-2001 explained its determination to secure an additional non- permanent seat for the Eastern European Group in the enlarged membership of the Council.
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The time for academic debates and sterile discussions was over, he said. The most feasible way to break the impasse was to start a qualitatively new stage of deliberations in the Working Group, focused on discussing comprehensive blueprints for eventual decision on the substance of the Security Council reform. Due to irreconcilable differences and even mutually exclusive concepts about the reform, it was obvious that the first drafts of such blueprints could not be prepared within the format of the Working Group. However, it was the Working Group that had to discuss the merits of those proposals after their emergence. His delegation insisted that actual negotiations should be conducted in a spirit of utmost transparency and within the confines of the General Assembly.
TULUY TANC (Turkey), said his country had always supported genuine and comprehensive reform of the Security Council. Reform should correspond to the justified expectations of the entire membership and should reflect fundamental changes in the international political landscape. The objective must be to make the Council more efficient, effective, representative, democratic and accountable. Turkey shared the desire of many others to enhance the representative character of the Council. However, the enlargement of the Council alone would fall short of ensuring a more equitable and representative participation. What was needed in addition was a fair and workable system of rotation.
Debates in the Open-Ended Working Group had underscored the persistence of deep divisions regarding the modalities to achieve reform, he said. However, the Working Group was the only appropriate forum to consider the matter, and Turkey would support the continuation of its work. The exercise of enhancing the role and moral authority of the Council was too serious a matter to be rushed, as more time was required to find solutions that would satisfy the largest segment of the United Nations membership.
He said the reform should not be used as a means to further the interests of a few, at the detriment of the majority. Any decision with Charter implications must be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the entire United Nations membership, referred to in Article 108 of the Charter. A very large majority of Member States shared that viewpoint, and it was also the position of the Non-Aligned Movement. It was against that background that his country had co-sponsored the draft resolution intended to establish that any decision resulting to the amendment of the Charter must be based on a credible majority.
CELSO AMORIM (Brazil) said that an increase in the Council's membership only by industrialized countries would be widely regarded as unacceptable. The fifth report of the Working Group had not presented any significant sense of direction but was merely a compilation of documents. Some might argue that the Group had outlived its usefulness. Nonetheless, it had decided to prolong its activities for yet another year. In his delegation's view, the extensive
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work carried out by five successive Assembly Presidents had already produced a sufficient foundation for negotiations to begin on a reform package. The composition of the Council's permanent members should be brought in line with the expanding role of developing countries in the maintenance of international peace and security. It was unfortunate that the hesitations of some with respect to the total number of members in an expanded Council was preventing the Organization from engaging in final negotiations.
There could be no justification for indefinitely prolonging discussions on the matter, he continued. If the international community wished to complete the reform process, it should start to envisage a temporal horizon for its efforts. The proponents of the text did not wish to be surprised by a draft resolution that would confront the Assembly with a reform package that had not been previously negotiated in an open and democratic manner. The solution being proposed would, if adopted, introduce a major change in the Assembly's procedures and modify the Organization's Charter itself. To suggest that the majority foreseen in Article 108 should apply to resolutions with Charter amendment implications was to propose to amend the Charter. Such legal implications of the draft went beyond Council reform and could very well be used in the future to create obstacles for the advancement of important causes. Those legal implications were extremely worrisome and had not been as carefully examined as they must be. In other words, what some delegations viewed as a possible insurance policy against an insufficiently pre-negotiated framework for Council reform was itself a problematic and insufficiently examined proposal for amending the Charter and Assembly rules of procedures.
IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said the prevailing feeling of powerlessness in achieving Council reform was the result of the large number of differing views. First, there were the differences between those, who in the name of efficiency, advocated an expansion to 21 members, and those who called for an expansion to 26 members. The majority of States would not want an enlarged Council with only 20 or 21 members divided up between the permanent and non- permanent categories. Efforts had to be stepped up to achieve a dynamic compromise to meet the requirements of representation and effectiveness.
Secondly, he continued, there were differences between those who wanted an expansion in both categories, and those that wanted it in only one category. Taking into account the new contours of international relations and that the majority of Member States came from the South, Senegal believed that expansion should involve both categories, permanent and non-permanent, at the same time. Thirdly, there were differing views on the veto, an essential decision-making mechanism.
There was one conclusion to be drawn following discussion in the Working Group, he said. The majority of States believed the veto was a discriminatory right, and wanted to limit its scope towards gradual elimination. With limited use, the veto might be more acceptable. However, due to the positions
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of the five permanent Council members, who were not likely to agree to eliminating or reducing its use, realization had to guide actions. An effort to end the impasse in the discussions on the veto must begin with the permanent members.
The remaining differences gave a proper idea of what was at stake, he said. The views of various delegations helped to guide and foster a momentum in the Working Group to continue the reform exercise. What remained was to translate that momentum into facts. Guidelines had to be provided to help the Chairman in future work. The Member States of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) claimed that to correct the existing imbalances, two permanent and two non-permanent seats should be given to Africa. The permanent seat would be held on a rotation system, which was submitted last July to the Group. The formula allowed for broad democratization and took into account the overall interests of Africa. In spite of current differences, patience and constructive innovation was needed to complete the work already begun. He believed a compromise agreement could be found in the draft and the amendments just submitted.
NASTE CALOVSKI (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) said the Organization's Charter had established a correct relationship between the Assembly and the Security Council and required close cooperation between them. It excluded relations among then on an unequal footing. However, the Council was presently playing a dominant role in the maintenance of international peace and security. The role of the Assembly, on the other hand, was diminishing, which was a matter of concern and the main source for the present lack of progress in efforts to reform the Council.
He said it was of paramount importance that each State had the opportunity to be a member of the Council. What also needed to be considered was the principle of geographical representation and fair rotation; the only relevant principles for membership on the Council. A new arrangement was therefore a necessity. The so-called "trade of votes" for membership on the Council and other bodies of the Organization had become an unacceptable situation. It was a practice that was harmful to the political standing of the Organization and should be stopped. The Open-Ended Working Group should consider that issue very studiously. The enhancement of the Assembly's role in the maintenance of international peace and security was the answer to the issue of the veto. When the Council was faced with the option of using the veto, it could request the Assembly to express itself by a qualified majority on the matter. The Council's decision should then be considered as a procedural matter to be adopted by an affirmative vote of nine members.
PENNY WENSLEY (Australia) said her country supported expansion of the Council by: giving permanent seats to under-represented developing regions; giving permanent seats to Japan and Germany, commensurate with their role in international peace and security; and increasing the number of non-permanent
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seats. It also supported a review of any new arrangements after 10 years, and a new understanding on the scope and application of the veto. Greater openness and transparency in the Council's working methods was also needed. Australia regretted that, one year later, it was still waiting for negotiations on concrete agreement to begin.
Australia had a number of difficulties with the draft text, not least its references to Article 108 of the Charter, which it believed was legally flawed, she said. If the draft was aimed at finding a way of ensuring that decisions on Council reform were taken by the highest possible majority of the United Nations membership, that was an objective she shared. Australia joined with others in proposing some amendments, which were designed not to oppose the draft, but to provide a basis for compromise and consensus. It was her view that the resolution was not yet ready for decision and she hoped that action on it could be deferred while compromise was sought.
MANUEL TELLO (Mexico) said that in 1995 his country had submitted a proposal to increase by five the number of non-permanent members of the Council, which still remained on the table. His delegation failed to understand how a Security Council with more permanent members could better represent all the States or become by that mere fact a more democratic organ. The so-called "permanent rotating seats" constituted one of the most flagrant deceits emerging from deliberations on the issue. To pretend that such a system would grant more prerogatives was a sophism. To think that a magic wand would give veto powers to those seats that lacked a fixed occupant was an illusion.
Regulating the scope of the veto constituted one of the central elements in the reform of the Security Council, he continued. History had demonstrated that the veto prevented action and that it neither fostered unity or promoted understanding. In 1996 Mexico had introduced in the Working Group proposals to amend seven Articles of the Charter, with a view of limiting the use of veto to the issues for which it was intended, that is, coercive measures taken by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter. The General Assembly -- the most representative organ of the international community -- had finally come of age and was thus able to responsibly take certain decisions without prior authorization of the Security Council. At the turn of the century, the permanent members should be willing to share some of their responsibilities with the General Assembly.
ABDALLAH BAALI (Algeria) said that the Organization's reform would remain incomplete without Council reform. While initiatives had been undertaken to increase information and transparency, he said the measures were limited and fragile, and had not yet been institutionalized. Council decisions continued to be taken behind closed doors, with concerned members not present.
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It was agreed that that the the Council no longer reflected the Organization's increased membership, he said. Council reform must take into account the growing weight of the majority of countries in the Organization, whose concerns were hardly taken into account in that body. Moreover, most Council decisions directly concerned that two-thirds majority. An expanded Council would enjoy broader support, strengthen its efficiency and increase its legitimacy.
His delegation supported the African common position, asking for two permanent rotating Council seats, he said. The principle of rotation on the continent had always been respected and seemed the most democratic, effective and credible route to equitable representation in the Council. It seemed essential that the interests of all States be taken into account for the future relations of the Organization. He warned against a hasty reform decision, which would cause harm to the Organization. In conclusion, he stressed that reaching the broadest possible agreement meant much more than the two-thirds majority mentioned in the Charter. Any modification of the Council needed to be carried out by Article 108 of the Charter.
SERGEY V. LAVROV (Russian Federation) said that a lack of support for proposed amendments to the Charter by a considerable group of distinguished States could create a political crisis and undermine the legitimacy of any decision taken. The world community could not afford to pay the price of a split within the United Nations for the goal of increasing the Council's efficiency and making its membership more representative. The majority of post-cold war Council decisions had been achieved by consensus. Without an efficient and operative Council, the international community would not be able to adequately address security challenges. Moreover, conflict settlement could become the domain of regional or even unilateral efforts only, without a central coordinating role played by the United Nations.
The number of members in an enlarged Council should not exceed 20 or 21, he said. Within that limit, the Russian Federation was open to proposals on both categories. Enlargement should include both industrial and developing nations, while ensuring that they enjoyed the same status. In principle, he had nothing against States occupying new permanent positions on a rotating basis, but the specific modalities for regulating that formula should be considered by the relevant regional groups. Regarding the veto, any curtailment of the status enjoyed by the current permanent members of the Council was unacceptable. A decision on granting the veto right to possible new Council members should be taken only after the composition of the enlarged Council had become clear.
REX S. HOROI (Solomon Islands) said that Council reform, the essential component of United Nations revitalization, required urgent, but thoughtful, attention. Time for reflection must take precedence over imposed time-frames. Also, the Open-Ended Working Group needed the resources to do its work
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thoroughly. Last May, the delegate of Solomon Islands had asked if there were written studies that comprised the objective analysis of the Council's activities, and whether they could be made available to the Working Group. Even if the permanent members would allow such studies, which would help in reaching the political and regional objectives of equitable representation, the Group did not have the resources to undertake or commission research of that kind. A request for a brief historical and legal study of the basis of the veto strained the available resources, resulting in less than satisfactory work. That was unacceptable in a matter as important as Council reform. The Group had to be provided with the required resources to do its work thoroughly and efficiently.
As the Working Group continued its efforts in 1999, the doors must be open to representatives of the media and other interested parties, he said. The doors could be closed when necessary. Reportage, editorial commentary and public debate would help to move the reform process forward to a widely acceptable conclusion. His country remained steadfast in its commitment to a more democratic and transparent Council with equitable representation for the countries of the developing world.
ZAMIRA ESHMAMBETOVA (Kyrgyzstan) said that the lack of progress in the Working Group was primarily due to the fact that there were too many discussions and not enough negotiations. The time had come for genuine negotiations, compromise and action. Compromise could be reached on the basis of moderate and realistic proposals. The so-called "Belgian proposal" could constitute a basis for negotiations. It was also necessary to initiate dialogue on the outstanding questions between the Working Group and members of the Security Council, in particular the permanent members.
She said that one way to accomplish that objective would be to designate a small informal subgroup of the Working Group, which would be broadly representative of the developing countries, the medium and small-sized industrial powers, and the regional groups, in order to initiate negotiations with the permanent five. That subgroup could be co-chaired by the Presidents of the Assembly and the Council. Direct dialogue with the Permanent Members in an atmosphere of transparency and mutual trust would allow them to determine specific areas of agreement and eventually work out solutions to the obstacles of the path of the Council reform.
KISHORE MAHBUBANI (Singapore) said that the Council should be enlarged according to the formula of the Non-Aligned Movement, and that Japan and Germany should be new permanent members. While the Council's primary responsibility was maintaining peace and security, the major powers as well as the "middle powers" did not need it for their security -- it was the small States which did; the more than 50 per cent of the Member States which had populations of less than 10 million. If expansion made the decision-making process unwieldy, however, that would undermine the security of small States.
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To win over the small States, the proponents of Council reform must explain how their proposals would make the Council more effective.
Concerning the veto, he said that 50 years after the "grand bargain" was carefully calibrated, discussion had not even begun on a new grand bargain, involving major powers and small States. There was no way to reform the Council without addressing the veto issue through full and open discussion. A more critical issue concerned checks and balances on veto power, and raised the question about whether a permanent member should account in the General Assembly for the use of the veto in the Council. Despite five years of discussions, members remained polarized on many key reform questions. His delegation had co-sponsored the current draft text, which captured the wisdom of the Organization's founding fathers, namely that all reforms should enjoy broad-based support.
NASSER AL-KIDWA, Permanent Observer for Palestine, said that since 1973, the Palestinian question had been subjected to 21 vetoes in the Council by one of its permanent members, the last two of which occurred in a period of less than two weeks. The vetoes referred to were those cast by the United States on draft resolutions regarding the Palestine question and the situation in the occupied territories, including Jerusalem. The United States vetoes were tantamount to the actual prevention of the application of international law and the application of relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter, including Chapter VII. That had translated into automatic protection for Israel in the face of the collective will of the international community and in spite of its continuous violations of international law and the Charter.
He asked what the remedy could be to the indiscriminate use of the veto. Also, at what stage, or after how many vetoes cast in relation to the same conflict did a permanent member become party to the conflict as defined by the Charter, he asked. The basic concern remained whether the United Nations, and especially the Council, could continue to appropriately execute its work and responsibilities, as specified in the Charter, in light of that kind of unrestricted use of veto power by one or another permanent member.
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