Sixty-first General Assembly

Plenary

40^th Meeting (PM)

STALEMATE PERSISTS IN BID FOR NON-PERMANENT SEAT ON SECURITY COUNCIL,

AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOLDS SIX MORE ROUNDS OF SECRET BALLOTS

Assembly President Schedules Six More Voting Rounds Into November;

Venezuela Trails Guatemala; Chile, Dominican Republic Fail to Break Deadlock

The General Assembly failed to break the stalemate between Venezuela and Guatemala for a spot on the powerful Security Council today, with both countries again falling below the required majority that would have brought to a close the four-day test of wills for the Council’s open Lain American and Caribbean seat.

Balloting continues until a State from the region achieves the required two-thirds majority.  There is no limit to the number of rounds of voting.  After six inconclusive secret ballots today, General Assembly President Sheika Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain announced six further rounds of voting to begin on Tuesday, 31 October at 10 a.m.  The Assembly also set aside Wednesday 1 November at 3 p.m., as well as Tuesday and Wednesday 7 and 8 November, and Tuesday and Wednesday 14 and 15 November.

Guatemala and Venezuela are vying to fill the seat now occupied by Argentina, one of the five non-permanent Council members finishing its two-year term on 31 December.  Including today’s ballots, Guatemala has led Venezuela by a consistent margin of some 20 votes in all except one of the 41 voting rounds, when Venezuela managed to pull even, sparking cheers and applause in the Hall.

Since then, despite some see-saw tallying in the middle rounds, the vote totals have barely changed and the day wound up with 190 of the Assembly’s 192 members casting 100 votes for Guatemala and 82 for Venezuela, 1 for Chile and 1 for the Dominican Republic, with six abstentions.  The final tally for last week was 103 votes for Guatemala and 81 for Venezuela, with 7 abstentions.

In 1979, there was a record 155 ballots before Mexico was chosen from the Latin American and Caribbean Group to serve a two-year term on the Council.  Guatemala has never been on the Council, but Venezuela has been a member four times, and South America’s largest countries, Brazil and Argentina, have held a seat nine and eight times, respectively. 

According to the Assembly’s rules of procedure, if no winner emerges after three ballots restricted to the leading regional candidates, the election is open to all regional Member States for the next three rounds, except outgoing members of the Council and those already holding seats on the Council.  Mexico and Cuba entered the race in the first unrestricted ballot last Monday, each garnering a single vote before pulling out.  Bolivia and Costa Rica were on the ballot this past Thursday, and each garnered just one vote before dropping out.

On 16 October, the Assembly, following an agreed geographic allocation, elected Belgium, Indonesia, Italy and South Africa to serve as non-permanent members, starting 1 January next year.  They will replace Denmark, Greece, Japan and United Republic of Tanzania when their terms end on 31 December. 

The Security Council consists of five veto-wielding permanent members -– China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States -– plus 10 nations elected for two-year terms, with five replaced each year.  With the Council’s current composition, Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia will continue to serve as elected members during 2007, for the second year of their terms.  All new Council members will take their seats on 1 January 2007.

The Assembly will reconvene tomorrow at 3 p.m. to consider the report of the International Court of Justice.

Background

The General Assembly met today for a fourth day of voting to elect, from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, one non-permanent member of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2007.

Voting Results

The results of the balloting were as follows:

Thirty-sixth Round of Voting (unrestricted)

Number of ballot papers:	187
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	187
Abstentions:	6
Required majority:	121
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	109
Venezuela	72

With no country having received the required majority, the Assembly held another ballot.

Thirty-seventh Round of Voting (unrestricted)

Number of ballot papers:	192
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	192
Abstentions:	6
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	107
Venezuela	78
Chile	1

With no country having received the required majority, the Assembly held another ballot.

Thirty-eighth Round of Voting (restricted)

Number of ballot papers:	187
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	187
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	122
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	105
Venezuela	77

With no country having received the required majority, the Assembly held another ballot.

Thirty-ninth Round of Voting (restricted)

Number of ballot papers:	189
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	189
Abstentions:	6
Required majority:	122
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	105
Venezuela	78

With no country having received the required majority, the Assembly held another ballot.

Fortieth Round of Voting (restricted)

Number of ballot papers:	190
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	190
Abstentions:	5
Required majority:	124
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	101
Venezuela	84

With no country having received the required majority, the Assembly held another ballot.

Forty-first Round of Voting (unrestricted)

Number of ballot papers:	190
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	190
Abstentions:	6
Required majority:	123
Number of votes obtained:
Guatemala	100
Venezuela	82
Dominican Republic	1
Chile	1

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For information media • not an official record