GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS CONGO, GHANA, PERU, QATAR, SLOVAKIA TO TWO-YEAR TERMS ON SECURITY COUNCIL, BEGINNING 1 JANUARY 2006

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS CONGO , GHANA , PERU , QATAR , SLOVAKIA TO TWO-YEAR TERMS

ON SECURITY COUNCIL, BEGINNING 1 JANUARY 2006

The General Assembly this morning elected the Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia to serve as non-permanent Members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2006.

They will fill the seats vacated on 31 December by Algeria, Benin, Brazil, Philippines and Romania.  Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan and United Republic of Tanzania will continue to serve as elected Council members during 2006, for the second of their two-year terms.

The five non-permanent Members were to be elected according to the following pattern:  three from Africa and Asia, one from Eastern Europe and one from Latin America and the Caribbean.  There was an understanding to the effect that, of the three States to be elected from Africa and Asia, two should be from Africa and one from Asia.

At the top of the meeting, Assembly President Jan Eliasson ( Sweden) extended the Assembly’s deepest sympathy to the Governments and peoples of, among others, El Salvador, Guatemala, India and Pakistan for the tragic loss of life and extensive material damage resulting from the recent floods, mudslides and earthquake.  “This earthquake, and the flooding and mudslides … remind us both of the power of nature but also of the importance of a quick, coordinated international response at times such as this”, he said.

The representative of Pakistan said the tragedy that hit his country on 8 October had caused tremendous loss of life and infrastructure.  The tragedy was still unfolding because much of it was in remote mountainous areas difficult to reach.  He thanked all those that had offered assistance for their generosity.

Guatemala’s representative then expressed gratitude to all delegations for their expressions of solidarity.  He said the devastation of natural disasters was directly related to the way mankind related to nature.  He thanked all the United Nations organizations for their selfless assistance and for the solidarity of Guatemala’s brothers and sisters in the region and elsewhere. 

The Assembly will reconvene this afternoon at 3 p.m. to hold a joint debate on the reports of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Voting Results

The results of the balloting were as follows:

African and Asian States
Number of ballot papers:	191
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	191
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	189
Required majority:	126
Number of votes obtained:
Congo	188
Ghana	184
Qatar	186
Indonesia	1
Eastern European States
Number of ballot papers:	191
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	191
Abstentions:	6
Number of members voting:	185
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Slovakia	185
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	191
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	191
Abstentions:	4
Number of members voting:	187
Required majority:	125
Number of votes obtained:
Peru	144
Nicaragua	43

Having obtained the required two-third majority, Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia were elected to the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2006.

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For information media • not an official record