UNITED NATIONS, May 9: In a vote manifesting the greater divide between North and South the UN General Assembly on Monday blocked a reform proposal which would have given UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan more budgetary and administrative power.

The powerful bloc of developing nations, known as the Group of 77 and China, had said on Monday that the reforms as proposed by the secretary-general would have robbed them of powers over the UN budget.

In a 121 to 50 vote with two abstentions — Norway and Uganda — the assembly on Monday adopted the measure which had passed by a similar margin late last month in the powerful Fifth Committee on administrative and budgetary matters.

The tally again showed the divide between developed and developing countries.

At the core of the debate were two proposals that would take some power away from the UN General Assembly, where each of the 191 member states gets one vote.

The developing nations said they were committed to UN reform but that Annan’s proposals would violate the UN Charter by leaving power in the hands of a few.

“The suggestion was made that to reform the United Nations that some countries would not count and their voices would not count,” said South Africa’s ambassador.