Two More Security Council Seats Up For Grabs

Three Security Council members elected but two more seats still up for grabs

The General Assembly today elected Burkina Faso, Viet Nam and Libya to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms starting 1 January 2008.

But 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 this morning.

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 - which 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.

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.

ENDS

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