UNITED NATIONS, July 21: The United States on Wednesday stepped up lobbying in order to persuade UN member states not to vote for any proposal on the expansion of the 15-member UN Security Council. The US Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, who came to the UN headquarters for that purpose, said he had been telling delegations that it was too early for such an expansion.
He told reporters other reforms were more important before a UN world summit in September, which he said President George W. Bush wanted to attend.
“Our view is that it is too early to have a vote on Security Council expansion. The United Nations needs reform first,” Mr Burns said.
So we are in touch with all the parties. And we would like to see in the future perhaps a modest expansion, because we worry about a big-bang expansion that might undercut and depreciate the effectiveness of the council. We think it is divisive.”
Japan, Germany, Brazil and India, known as the Group of Four, are negotiating with African Union members to enlarge the Security Council to 25 or 26, including six new permanent seats. The first step in expanding the council goes through the 191-member UN General Assembly where Washington has only one vote.
Mr Burns said he was meeting some African delegates and had been in ‘very close contract’ with Japan, Germany, Brazil and India, who would like a vote on their resolution this month.
He reiterated the US view that the council eventually could be expanded by perhaps two permanent members, and some non-permanent members, with Japan being the one Washington has endorsed.
However, Mr Burns said the debate, which has been under way for more than a decade, could ‘wait a couple of more months’.
Instead, he said the United Nations needed to support Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s other proposals, such as management, budget and administrative reforms, a new human rights council to replace the ‘discredited’ Human Rights Commission in Geneva, a peace-building commission and a comprehensive treaty on terrorism.
“We can’t put the cart before the horse. The institution is badly in need of reform. Those reforms should be considered first,” Mr Burns said.
Japan, Germany, Brazil and India have called on the General Assembly to enlarge the Security Council from 15 to 25. This plan has six new permanent seats, including two for Africa, but new members would not have veto power.
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.
Expanding the Security Council was spurred this year by Mr Annan, who argued the body, responsible for peace and security, was unrepresentative and reflected the balance of power at the end of the Second World War.
