UN Postpones Once Again Security Council Reform

What is the future of the Security Council and its membership? The reform process is about to stall despite the efforts of the outgoing President of the United Nations General Assembly, Sheika Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain, in reaching a consensus.

In a letter to all UN Permanent Representatives, Al Khalifa noted that “while all Member States approached the matter in a constructive and flexible manner, this process did not result in achieving the agreement I was aspiring for.”

The move failed to find a consensus. The President has now decided to convene on September 12 (USEDT) a meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation in the Security Council – initially scheduled for September 5 – and has appealed to all Member States to “exhibit the necessary constructiveness and flexibility.”

The Open-Ended Working Group, created by the General Assembly in 1993, will have to consider and adopt a draft report containing recommendations to the 62nd Session of the General Assembly. Member States are regrouping – once again – in order to have their views reflected in the report and facilitate negotiations in the upcoming new Session of the General Assembly.

The discussion focuses on whether to increase the number of permanent members of the Security Council – currently China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – and give new members veto power over the Council’s decisions. A proposal by the so-called Group of Four – namely Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan – calls for an enlargement in both categories of membership, permanent (with or without veto) and non-permanent.

Two other proposals are now being discussed: one from the African Group – the so-called Ezulwini Consenus – restates the African claim for two permanent seats, with all the privileges, including the right of Veto, and five non-permanent seats; one from a group of nations grouped in the so-called Uniting for Consensus movement – including Pakistan, Italy and Mexico –, which calls for an intermediary approach, with an increase in non-permanent members.

Since the current Session of the General Assembly will be adjourned next week, the negotiations will start again during the 62nd Session, which will formally start on September 18.

"The reform of the Security Council is a crucial element of reforming the United Nations,” said in a recent interview Ambassador Srgjan Kerim, President-elect of the 62nd Session of the General Assembly. “There, we all agree. I don't think there is a single country that would oppose that. And that's very important.”

Kerim, a former Permanent Representative of Macedonia (fYROM) to the United Nations, noted that the composition of the Security Council does not reflect the world of today. “It's the world of yesterday – he said – and we are here to create and build the world of today and tomorrow. And this is why enlargement of the Security Council is a very important step which has to be undertaken. But, I would like to stress, that in order to have the right decision at the right time, we have to be very, very cautious in choosing the options to be discussed and negotiated on because there are different views and we have to find a common denominator. I don't hide that there is a view shared by many countries that Japan definitely should belong to this circle of nations which would be a member of an enlarged Security Council. But how we get there from here is a very important question," Ambassador Srgjan Kerim said.

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