UNITED NATIONS, May 8: Over sixty-five UN member states will contest for 47 seats on the new Human Rights Council on Tuesday. Pakistan is a candidate for one of the 13 Asian seats.
Other contestants include India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
Diplomats here say that Pakistan has a great chance of being elected to the council.
The council replaces the discredited and now defunct Human Rights Commission.
Under the terms of the resolution creating the council, 96 votes are required in the 191-member General Assembly for a country to be elected.
Fourteen countries are contesting for 13 seats from the African region, 13 for six from East European group, 11 for eight seats from Latin American and the Caribbean region and nine for seven from Western European and other groups.
