UN Security Council reforms face critical decisions
Regional-UN, Politics, 8/2/2005

The United Nations was founded as an organization whose main function was to be conflict resolution and issues of war and peace, functions that have been the domain of the UN Security Council. And since the Security Council is at the heart of what the United Nations functions was designed to be, the Security Council reforms have been difficult in the past, but indications are that momentum is building up for a definite change in this body.

There are currently three main proposals for the reform of the UN Security Council. There is a proposal by the G-4 countries (Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil,), while another is by the African Union Countries, and a third is by the United For Consensus group (Pakistan, Italy, Canada, Argentina, and several other countries).

Talking to ArabicNews.com, diplomats from various countries, including those who who lead these groups, indicated that they are willing to compromise, and want compromise. However, the nature of the compromise have not become clear.

The G-4 proposal seems to be gaining the most momentum. The proposal give Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil permanent council seats, without veto rights. The African Union wanted veto rights to all new members, but indications are that this position has changed. Meeting most recently in London, the African Union, lead by Nigeria, agreed to consider a compromise with the G-4 group, in which new members would not get veto rights. Also, the compromise would allows a new additional seat that Africa had wanted for itself exclusively, to become a seat that can be rotated among Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Egypt, an African country, expressed concern about this compromise because it wants to hold on the veto rights for the new permenant members as agreed to at the previous African Summit.

Algeria, the head of the African Union, had sent messages to the African leaders urging them to give up the veto power. Also, Nigeria has called for a forthcoming summit this Thursday, in Addis Ababa, for a consensus among the African Union countries.

A source in the diplomatic community, that wanted to remain anonymous, said that the African Union, "by tabulating a resolution" at the UN, indicated that it is willing to compromise.

Pakistan, which leads the United For Consensus (UFC) group indicated that it is willing to compromise. The UFC in its official statements has called for a compromise with the African Union proposal, while it strongly objected to the G-4 proposal. The UFC proposal calls for new seats to be non-permanent and to be reelected every two years, in order to keep these Council members accountable to the interests of their groups and not their own countries. Pakistan is unlikely to want to see India to become a permanent member, as the two countries have had problems along their history.

Pakistan "we must express concern at reports that the sponsors of the draft resolution document A/59/L.64 -- the G-4 -- will call for a vote on their draft in the near future. Such a vote will be a recipe for disaster -- disaster for Security Council reform, for UN reform, and for international peace and cooperation. A vote will divide the United Nations membership exacerbating tensions in every region of the world and thus would prevent the central purpose of the United Nations Charter.. The adoption of the G-4's resolution -- in the unlikely event that it happens, will lead to a dead-end. It will freeze the whole issue of Security Council reform for many years and oblige the general membership to live with the status quo."

The position of the United For Consensus group is formally stated by Pakistan a: "1. It is fair and equitable. It adheres to the principle of sovereign equality and will not discriminate between member states; 2. It will increase the Council's representativeness. The majority of the membership of the United Nations are small and medium states. Our proposal will double the chances of 186 countries to secure membership of the Council; 3. It will enhance the accountability, through the mechanism of periodic elections and reelections. Those States which seek Council membership to represent regions or groups will remain periodically answerable to those regions and groups as well as to the general membership. 4. Our proposal is simple. It proposes direct approval of a Charter amendment rather than a complex and uncertain three-stage process; 4. Our proposal is realistic. Since it accommodates the interests and positions of all Member States, it is more likely to secure eventual ratification."

The United For Consensus seeks equality for all UN member states. While this can be seen as representative, it is worth noting that there are countries that have a population of less than one million, and it is not clear how this can be reconciled with a Security Council that is supposed to represent to power center in the world.

Pakistan's Minister of Press at the UN said about the reforms "we want democratization" and more representation. There proposal calls for 10 non-permanent members that rotate every 2 years. This, he said, ensures accountability that these members remain accountable to their regional group.

Sweden's Ambassador Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, Ms. Ulla Strom, said the United Nations "does not reflect the world as it stands today" and the UN "needs to be representative." Strom said that "to add legitimacy (to the Security Council), it must be expanded."

In addition to expansion, Strom said the UN Security Council operations and functions become transparent.

Indicating about the harm the Security Council veto system to democratic decision making, Strom said that Sweden is looking for a "veto free culture." She said that there should be restrictions on veto power and specific conditions that would limit when such power is allowed to be used. Strom said "the veto right is obsolete and does not fit into the environment we live in today." Asked if Sweden has made a decision on supporting the G-4 proposal, she said that there has been no public announcement yet in this regard.

The officials from various grouping that spoke to ArabicNews.com indicated that they want compromise, as they all seek greater democratization and representation for the Security Council. There are indications that the G-4 proposal is the leading proposal for consideration, and the African Union meeting on Thursday, with the conflicting interests, will play a critical role on how to deal with the G-4 proposal and will determine what will happen next to UN Security Council reforms.

Previous Stories:
  UN Security Council reform discussions intensify   (7/15/2005)
  African Union wants end to veto power in Security Council reforms   (7/8/2005)
  US agrees to expansion, continues efforts to shift focus from real Security Council reform   (6/17/2005)

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