FIFTH COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS APPOINTMENTS TO FIVE SUBSIDIARY BODIES, INCLUDING UN ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, INVESTMENTS COMMITTEE
| Press Release GA/AB/3590 |
Fifty-eighth General Assembly
Fifth Committee
17th Meeting (AM)
FIFTH COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS APPOINTMENTS TO FIVE SUBSIDIARY BODIES,
INCLUDING UN ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, INVESTMENTS COMMITTEE
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning made recommendations to the General Assembly regarding appointments to the United Nations Administrative Tribunal, Investments Committee, Board of Auditors, Committee on Contributions and Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.
As it filled vacancies to various subsidiary and other bodies, the Committee approved, by acclamation, reappointment of Julio Barboza of Argentina and appointment of Dayendra Sena Wijewardana of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Administrative Tribunal for a four-year term beginning of 1 January 2004.
Also by acclamation, the Committee confirmed three candidates for the Investments Committee, for a three-year term of office, beginning on 1 January: Ahmad Abdullatif of Saudi Arabia, Fernando Chico Pardo of Mexico and J.Y. Pillay of Singapore.
Turning to the Board of Auditors, the Committee recommended to the Assembly, by acclamation, the reappointment of the First President of the Court of Accounts of France for a six-year term beginning on 1 July 2004.
Since the number of candidates for the Committee on Contributions from three regional groups did not exceed the number of vacancies, Haileselassie Getachew of Ethiopia for the Group of African States; Kenshiro Akimoto of Japan and Meshal al-Mansour of Kuwait for the Group of Asian States; and David A. Leis of the United States for the Group of Western European and Other States were recommended by acclamation. David Dutton of Australia –- endorsed by the Group of Western European and Other States -- was recommended for appointment to the Committee on Contributions until 31 December 2004, to fill the unexpired portion of the term of office of Henry Fox, also of Australia, who resigned from the Committee.
Two candidates from the Group of Eastern European States –- Petru Dumitriu of Romania and Ihor V. Humenny of Ukraine -- were approved through a secret ballot, having obtained the required majority (see details of balloting, below).
Making its recommendations on the appointments to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), the Committee approved the candidacies of Andrzej T. Abraszewski of Poland for the Group of Eastern European States; and Besley Maycock of Barbados for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States by acclamation, since the number of candidates from those Groups corresponded to the respective number of vacancies.
Advisory Committee candidates from the African and Asian Groups were approved following secret ballots. Having obtained the required majority, Collen Vixen Kelapile of Botswana and Manlan Narcisse Ahounou of Côte d’Ivoire from the Group of African States and Murai Raj Sharma of Nepal from the Group of Asian States were recommended to serve for three years, beginning on 1 January 2004. (See details, below.)
Richard Moon of the United Kingdom -- endorsed by the Group of Western European and Other States -- was recommended for the unexpired term of office (through 31 December 2004) of Nicholas Thorne, who resigned from the ACABQ.
The Committee will continue its consideration of several reports on strengthening the United Nations system at 9.30 a.m. on Monday, 10 November.
Ballot Details
Committee on Contributions
Eastern European States
Number of ballots cast: 181
Invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 181
Abstentions: 0
Number of delegations voting: 181
Required majority: 91
Number of votes obtained:
Ihor V. Humenny of Ukraine 134
Petru Dumitriu of Romania 135
Assen Iliev Klatanov of Bulgaria 80
Having attained the required number of votes, Ihor V. Humenny of Ukraine and Petru Dumitriu of Romania were elected for a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2004.
Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)
African States
Prior to the ballot, a representative of Sierra Leone, speaking on behalf of the African Group, asked for support for the two candidates recommended by the Group and endorsed by the African Union heads of State at their Moputo Summit in July: Manlan Narcisse Ahounou of Côte d’Ivoire and Collen Vixen Kepalipe of Botswana.
A representative of the United Republic of Tanzania supported the candidacy of current Chairman of the ACABQ, Conrad S. M. Mselle, also of Tanzania.
Number of ballots cast: 187
Invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 187
Abstentions: 2
Number of delegations voting: 185
Required majority: 93
Number of votes obtained:
Manlan Narcisse Ahounou of Côte d’Ivoire 148
Collen Vixen Kelapile of Botswana 165
Conrad S.M. Mselle of the United Republic of Tanzania 53
Having received the required majority, Manlan Ahounou of Côte d’Ivoire and Collen Vixen Kelapile of Botswana were elected for a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2004.
Asian States
Number of ballots cast: 187
Invalid ballots: 1
Number of valid ballots: 186
Abstentions: 2
Number of delegations voting: 184
Required majority: 93
Number of votes obtained:
Felipe Mabilingan of the Philippines 49
Murai Raj Sharma of Nepal 78
Sun Joun-yung of the Republic of Korea 57
As no candidate obtained the required majority a second round was then held.
Number of ballots cast: 187
Invalid ballots: 1
Number of valid ballots: 186
Abstentions: 1
Number of delegations voting: 185
Required majority: 93
Number of votes obtained:
Murai Raj Sharma of Nepal 113
Sun Joun-yung of the Republic of Korea 72
Having obtained the required majority, Murai Raj Sharma of Nepal was elected for a three-year term of office from January 1 2004.
Speaking after the vote, the representative of Norway pointed out that women were severely underrepresented in those ballots. Good governance required the participation of women on an equal footing to men, he said. Norway encouraged all States to present women for appointments and elections.