Libya, Burkina
Faso Elected To UN Council
Libya,
Burkina Faso and Vietnam have been elected to nonpermanent seats
on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2008-09 in
a vote by the U.N. General Assembly.
The three countries were
unopposed and obtained the required two-thirds majority of votes
in favour from the 192-member Assembly.
Two other non-permanent seats,
awarded to one Eastern European country and one member of the
Latin American and Caribbean States grouping, remain in
contention after no nations were able to obtain the necessary
two-thirds majority during the first round of voting on Tuesday.
Voting Pattern
Announcing the results of the
first round in the African and Asian category, where three seats
were available, General Assembly President, Srgjan Kerim said
Burkina Faso had received 185 votes out of a possible 190, while
Viet Nam picked up 183 and Libya received 178.
The three countries, to replace
Congo, Ghana and Qatar when their terms expire at the end of
this year, were the only declared candidates for the region.
Mauritania picked up two votes, Senegal received one and there
were no abstentions.
In the Eastern European category,
where 124 votes were needed for victory, Croatia received 95 and
Czech Republic picked up 91. There were four abstentions.
In the Latin American and
Caribbean grouping, where 126 votes were needed to win, Costa
Rica obtained 116 and the Dominican Republic received 72.
Balloting for both groupings will
continue until the required majority is achieved, with the next
three rounds restricted to the two highest-scoring candidates in
the opening round.
The winners will replace Slovakia
and Peru when their terms expire at the end of this year.
Criteria
The members were elected
according to an agreed geographic allocation, which awards three
seats to African and Asian countries, one to Eastern European
States, and one to the Latin American and Caribbean region
during this year’s round of elections.
Council elections are held by
secret ballot in the General Assembly, and a winning candidate
requires a two-thirds majority of ballots of members present and
voting.
Formal balloting takes place even
in those regions where there is only one candidate per available
seat.
The Council’s five other
non-permanent members, whose terms end on 31 December 2008, are
Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa. The five
permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, United
Kingdom and United States.
REUTERS/UN/MIA
