NEW YORK, July 19: The African Union formally tabled its draft resolution in the UN General Assembly on Monday on the expansion of the Security Council. The resolution calls for six permanent seats and five non-permanent seats in the expanded council.

As negotiations between the African Union and the G4 countries — Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — continued, Nigeria’s envoy, Aminu Bashir Wali, who presented the resolution to the UN General Assembly, called it ‘a reference point for negotiations with other member states and interested groups’.

Most African speakers noted that theirs was the only continent that did not have a permanent seat in the current 15-member Security Council. Latin America does not have a permanent seat, but the Africans consider the US a representative of the Americas, while South American countries do not.

“If we fail to seize this opportunity, the credibility and legitimacy of the Security Council and the entire system of global government will continue to erode,” said South Africa’s representative, Xolisa Mabhongo.

But Algeria’s UN envoy, Abdallah Baali, said the General Assembly should not ‘yield to artificial timetables that one would impose upon us’, a position similar to those who want to delay any Security Council reform and an indication of a split in the 53-member African Union.

The foreign ministers from Japan, India, Brazil and Germany, aspirants for permanent council seats, came to New York on Sunday to negotiate with foreign ministers from Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Libya.

Without African Union support, the four aspirants will not get enough votes for their resolution.

“It’s not possible for any group to get two-thirds by itself,” Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said on Sunday. “So we have to find a way for our differences not only to narrow, but to disappear.”

They agreed on a working group in New York to develop compromise proposals by Friday after which the foreign ministers would meet again, probably in Geneva, on July 25. No vote is expected before July 29.

The African Union’s draft resolution asks for the council to be enlarged to 26 seats, one more non-permanent seat than the four aspirants’ proposal. It also advocates six new permanent seats but with veto privileges.

Among the current five permanent council members with veto power, the United States and China are lobbying against all the plans under consideration. France and Britain support the four aspirants. The last step in changing the council composition needs approval from the five powers.