Sixty-first General Assembly

Plenary

32^nd & 33^rd Meetings (AM & PM)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS BELGIUM, INDONESIA, ITALY, SOUTH AFRICA

AS NON-PERMANENT MEMBERS OF SECURITY COUNCIL

 

Latin American and Caribbean Vacancy not Filled;

10 Rounds of Voting Leaves Guatemala, Venezuela Short of Required Majority

In a single round of voting, the General Assembly today elected Belgium, Indonesia, Italy and South Africa to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for the next two years; but the vacancy for the Latin American and Caribbean seat remained open, after 10 rounds of balloting gave neither Guatemala nor Venezuela the two-thirds majority vote needed to be elected.

Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, and South Africa will fill the seats vacated on 31 December by Denmark, Greece, Japan and the United Republic of Tanzania.  When selected, the new Latin America and Caribbean candidate will succeed Argentina, which is also ending its two-year term in the Council on 31 December.   Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia will continue to serve as elected Council members during 2007, for the second year of their term.  All new Council members will take their seats on 1 January 2007.

In the tenth round of voting, which ended today’s Assembly session, a total of 191 votes were cast; 110 in favour of Guatemala and 77 in favour of Venezuela, with 4 abstentions; 125 being the required two-thirds majority to be elected.  That final vote was almost exactly the same as the first vote, in which 185 Member States voted, giving 109 to Guatemala and 76 to Venezuela, with 7 abstaining.  The vote each country received varied throughout the course of the day -- on the sixth ballot they tied at 93 votes each -- Mexico and Cuba received votes in the course of the unrestricted balloting, which began after the fourth round, as allowed by the Assembly’s rules of procedure.

The five non-permanent Members are elected according to the following formula: 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.  For 2007, the African Group had endorsed South Africa.  For the two vacant seats from among the Western European and other States, there were two endorsed candidates, namely Belgium and Italy.

The Assembly will reconvene at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, 17 October, to resume voting on the Latin America and Caribbean regional candidate.

Background

The General Assembly met today to elect five non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2007.

Voting Results

The results of the balloting were as follows:

African and Asian States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	0
Required majority:	128
Number of votes obtained:
South Africa	186
Indonesia	158
Nepal	28
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	7
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala 109
Venezuela 76
Western European and Other States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	3
Required majority:	126
Number of votes obtained:
Italy	186
Belgium	180

Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, Belgium, Indonesia, Italy and South Africa were elected to the Security Council for two-year terms, beginning on 1 January 2007.  With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly held a second round of voting.

Second Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	4
Required majority:	126
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	114
Venezuela	74

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly held a third ballot.

Third Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	191
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	191
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	116
Venezuela	70

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly went for a fourth round of voting.

Fourth Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	1
Number of valid ballots:	191
Abstentions:	6
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	110
Venezuela	75

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly went for a fifth round of voting. According to the Assembly’s rules of procedure, if after three restricted rounds of balloting there is no winner for that region, the election is open to all regional members, except outgoing members of the Council and those already holding seats in the Council.  Balloting will continue until a State achieves the required majority.

Fifth Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	125
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	103
Venezuela	83
Mexico	1

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly held a sixth ballot.

Sixth Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	125
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	93
Venezuela	93
Mexico	1

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly held a seventh ballot.

Seventh Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	125
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	96
Venezuela	89
Cuba	1
Mexico	1

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly held an eighth ballot.

Eighth Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	125
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	102
Venezuela	85

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly held a ninth ballot.

Ninth Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	4
Required majority:	125
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	107
Venezuela	81

With no country from Latin America having received the required majority, the Assembly held a tenth ballot.

Tenth Round of Voting
Latin American and Caribbean States
Number of ballot papers:	191
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	191
Abstentions:	4
Required majority:	125
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	110
Venezuela	77

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For information media • not an official record