UNITED NATIONS, July 8: The “Uniting for Consensus” (UFC) group, led by Italy and Pakistan which opposes creation of additional permanent seats in the UN Security Council, announced on Thursday that it would submit a draft resolution which seeks to create 10 additional non-permanent seats in the Council.

The move by UFC came after the four aspirants of permanent seats — Japan, Brazil, Germany and India — submitted their draft in the General Assembly on Wednesday.

The G-4 which calls for six new permanent members (albeit without veto) and four non-permanent members, expects to bring it’s proposal to a vote at the end of this month.

Most diplomats here said that the G-4 countries do not have the required two thirds majority (128 votes) for the passage of their resolution particularly after the 53-member African Union came out with a resolution of their own which clearly divides the votes in the 191-member General Assembly.

The UFC’s decision to join the fray was reached at a 90-minute meeting of like-minded countries held at the Canadian mission to the United Nations.

Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram told reporters that UFC members would participate in the next week’s General Assembly debate, sought by the G-4 countries, in a “constructive” spirit. But, he said, the UFC remained firm in its stand that any decision to reform the Council should be taken by consensus, not by vote.

“We’re not begging for votes; We’re asking for consensus,” Mr Akram said.

In response to a question the Pakistani envoy said: “We standby our position that the Security Council expansion should be carried out only in the non-permanent category. He said UFC’s proposal was “most equitable” and “flexible”, taking care of the interest of Africa, Asia, Latin America and all other groups.

“It (UFC proposal) would make the Council “more democratic, equitably representative, transparent, effective and accountable”, he added.

China’s UN Ambassador Wang Guangya, who also attended the UFC meeting, said his country had always advocated more time to come to an agreement on the Security Council’s reform. Now the situation had become “very complicated”, with so many competing proposals floating around. “There is no point in rushing through.”

Meanwhile, the African Union began circulating on Thursday its draft resolution calling for enlarging the UN Security Council from 15 to 26 members, with the addition of six new permanent members with veto power and five non-permanent members.

Algeria’s UN Ambassador Abdallah Baali, returning from the just-concluded AU summit in Sirte, Libya, said African states were now united behind their own draft resolution to reform the council.

He acknowledged that the AU’s position on reforms may clash with the position of the G-4. “We have to defend our draft and the G-4 countries will have to defend theirs,” Baali said, seeming to brush off demands for negotiations by the G-4 to reach a compromise.

Ambassador Baali went on to say that the G-4 resolution doesn’t have a chance in the absence of the 53-member AU support.