ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT OPENS DEBATE ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM
Press Release
GA/SM/143
ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT OPENS DEBATE ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM
19991216This is the text of a statement by the President of the General Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia), in the plenary debate on Security Council membership and related matters, delivered on 16 December:
Before opening the debate of the General Assembly on item 38 (Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters), I would like to make a brief introductory statement.
I felt the need to make this statement in order to reflect on some matters arising out of the extensive consultations on this subject, which I have conducted with Member States.
By launching the process of reforming, restructuring and democratizing the United Nations in its totality, including specifically the reform and increase in the membership of the Security Council, the Member States have accepted change. Taking it a step further, I should add that this acceptance has now become a common commitment. During the consultations that I carried out, I found repeated reiteration of this commitment and no indication to the contrary. The Member States offered me ideas and suggestions that were meant to help me and my collaborators in preparing for the meeting of the Open-ended Working Group which I intend convening early next year.
I am happy to point out that I have been encouraged by the open and frank views that I encountered, and the expressed willingness to contribute constructively in the continuing search for workable solutions to overcome the major sticking points, on the basis of constructive negotiations, flexibility and compromise.
I am convinced that credible progress has been made. But there is also an impasse on certain critical issues. This is, without doubt, the most ambitious course of action that all Member States have embraced and sustained for the past six years. It is a noble cause which speaks to the very heart and soul and efficacy of our Organization.
The United Nations community has much to be proud of that a vision for change and rebirth of the United Nations has been kept burning in spite of the vagaries of multilateral negotiations, as well as the vexing problems of policy.
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That said, I am of the view that the Member States are not quite ready right now for concentrated negotiations and for the final package deal. Instead, I am expected, for now, to continue the consultations beyond this point, bearing in mind the forthcoming meeting of the Open-ended Working Group which I am planning to convene in the early part of 2000. I do not, therefore, expect any concrete conclusions coming out of this debate at this time. I will, however, be listening for helpful ideas and suggestions from the speakers.
In this connection, I have requested the two able Vice-Presidents, Ambassador John de Saram, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka, and Ambassador Hans Dahlgren, Permanent Representative of Sweden, to stay on, and they have kindly accepted.
I would like to express my admiration and gratitude to my worthy predecessors for having been such devoted negotiators and skilful interlocutors, without whose leadership we might not have reached this crucial benchmark. Let me, once again, emphasize the imperative need for scheduled consultations among the Presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council and the Secretary-General to ensure better coordination and mutual support at all times.
The Assembly has before it the Report of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council (document A/53/47).
It goes without saying that all of us agree on the need to reform and enlarge the Security Council in all respects, in order for this vital United Nations organ to reflect the changes of the modern world and be responsive to the wishes of all the United Nations Member States in the spirit of equality and justice. The difficulty is in deciding how this should be brought about, and how such changes will assure the equality, representativity, transparency and effectiveness we all want. Collective human ingenuity created the United Nations in 1945. That ingenuity is still here and better informed than ever before. What is lacking today is political will.
Granted, this is one of the thorniest issues before our Organization today. But we could do better in the interest of progress. I have endeavoured to elicit views from many delegations and explored practical ways and means in which we can move forward on this difficult but clearly unavoidable issue, of paramount importance to every one of the Member States and the international community as a whole.
Some delegations have expressed reservations on holding this meeting of the Assembly. They strongly argued that without an agreement on the final package, the whole exercise would be a waste of time and that it could even be counterproductive. Others have, with equal force of passion, insisted that it was most important to provide delegations with an opportunity, at
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this stage, to reiterate their support of the United Nations, including and specifically to express themselves on the equitable representation on and enlargement of the membership of the Security Council. More so at the centurys end and on the eve of the birth of the millennium.
Not only is the credibility of the United Nations itself at stake, but this will also be the best way to further assist the President and the Bureau on the crucial Cluster I and Cluster II issues, as well as the exercise of the veto. I noted all those arguments and reflected on what is best for the United Nations. In the end, I chose my own side as your President of the General Assembly. I believe the debate will be useful to everyone.
I did so, moreover, in the interest of ensuring progress and promoting transparency. I am convinced that we stand to gain rather than lose by providing the Member States of the General Assembly another opportunity to debate this item in the Assembly - without preconceived prescriptions, conditions or preferences. No quick-fix but no tortured Uruguay-Round-style endless negotiations either. I feel vindicated by the long list of speakers inscribed under the item.
As we gaze to the future, the United Nations stands at a historical crossroads and is called upon to face the new millennium in unity, confidence and with renewed determination towards a better world. What we do here should be inspired by that vision.
I would appeal to all delegations to use this opportunity to offer constructive ideas and insights that will help move the process forward for the good of all. In this, I hope it will be possible for the delegations to think in a holistic way, and bring the day closer for the finalization of the final package.
Let me conclude by appealing to all the delegations to be kind enough to also cooperate with me and assist my Bureau in the preparations for the envisaged meeting of the Working Group in the early part of 2000. I will be most grateful to one and all. The meeting of the Working Group must deal only and specifically with the substance and matters directly related to it and avoid, at all cost, another general debate.
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