UNITED NATIONS, June 8: Germany, Japan, Brazil and India on Wednesday dropped the right to a veto for new permanent UN Security Council members in their revised draft resolution to expand the 15-member prestigious body. The four nations, contenders for permanent council seats, want the UN General Assembly to adopt a framework resolution as early as this month that would add 10 new members to the council, six permanent members and four non-permanent ones.
The council currently has five permanent members, which would keep their veto power, and 10 non-permanent members rotating for two-year terms.
“On the veto, it has become clear that the question of its extension to the new permanent members is best dealt with by the general membership” in a review 15 years after the proposed changes come into force, said a covering letter to the new draft resolution by the four nations who want permanent seats in a new expanded Security Council. Consideration of the veto is now postponed until a review in 15 years.
NEW MOMENTUM: The new draft resolution was circulated to 191 General Assembly members, who must vote by a two-thirds majority to expand the council after 12 years of debate. The effort was given new momentum this year by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as part of his overall reform of the world body.
The second step, which needs another resolution and also a two-thirds majority in the Assembly, is to fill in the names of the contenders for permanent seats, which will include two nations from Africa.
And the third step involves a change in the UN Charter, which must be approved by two-thirds of the legislatures around the world, including the current five veto-wielding Security Council powers.—Reuters
