| |||
5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council | |||
Composition of the UNSC after the 2011 election | |||
|
Unsuccessful candidates |
The 2011 United Nations Security Council election was held on 21 and 24 October 2011 [1] during the Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan, and Togo, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2012. Azerbaijan was elected after 17 rounds on 24 October, while the other four new members were chosen on 21 October. [2]
The Sixty-sixth Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 13 September 2011 at 15:00 and was presided over by former Qatari permanent representative to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. The session ended on 18 September as al-Nasser symbolically passed the gavel to the president of the next session, Vuk Jeremic.
The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States and in the U.S. state of New York. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and has an 11 km long border with Turkey in the northwest.
The Security Council has 15 seats, filled by five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. Each year, half of the non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms. [3] [4] A sitting member may not immediately run for re-election. [5]
In accordance with the rules whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes, [6] the five available seats are allocated as follows: [7]
The United Nations Regional Groups are the geopolitical regional groups of the Member States of the United Nations. Originally, United Nations Member States were unofficially grouped into five geopolitical regional groups. However, what began as an informal means of sharing the distribution of posts for United Nations bodies quickly took on a much more expansive role. Depending on the context, the regional groups control elections to United Nations-related positions, on the basis of geographic representation, as well as coordinate substantive policy, and form common fronts for negotiations and voting.
The following is an alphabetical list of subregions in the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, used by the UN and maintained by the UNSD department for statistical purposes.
Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and its population is estimated at 2 million people. Its capital and largest city is Libreville.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria, commonly referred to as Nigeria, is a federal republic in West Africa, bordering Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Its coast in the south is located on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The federation comprises 36 states and 1 Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja is located. Nigeria is officially a democratic secular country.
To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority of those present and voting. If the vote is inconclusive after the first round, three rounds of restricted voting shall take place, followed by three rounds of unrestricted voting, and so on, until a result has been obtained. In restricted voting, only official candidates may be voted on, while in unrestricted voting, any member of the given regional group, with the exception of current Council members, may be voted on. [9]
Guatemala [10] indicated it would run for the 2012–2013 term, for the seat currently occupied by Brazil. At that time, Guatemala was one of only six original UN Members to have never held a seat on the Security Council.[ citation needed ]
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, Honduras to the east, El Salvador to the southeast and the Pacific Ocean to the south. With an estimated population of around 16.6 million, it is the most populated country in Central America. Guatemala is a representative democracy; its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City.
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 208 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the fifth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populated city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states, the Federal District, and the 5,570 municipalities. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world.
Azerbaijan, [11] Hungary, [12] [13] and Slovenia [14] [15] all announced their intention to run for the single Eastern European seat. Though Armenia did not run for the seat, the Azerbaijani Trend news agency had previously reported about an Armenian withdrawal of its bid, while reading the alleged candidature as "certainly viewed as Armenia's defeat". [16] The Arab League indicated it would support Azerbaijan's candidature. [17]
Mauritania, Morocco and Togo sought to be elected to the two African seats. [18]
Pakistan had announced its intention to run for the single Asian seat in October 2010. A Pakistani diplomat noted that Pakistan had supported India's candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the 2010 election, and hoped that India would support Pakistan's candidacy in 2011. [19] Fiji had originally sought to run for the seat, but deferred in Pakistan's favour. [20] Kyrgyzstan has also made known its candidacy on 22 September 2011. [21] [22]
African Group election results | |||
---|---|---|---|
Member | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
151 | — | — | |
119 | 119 | 131 | |
98 | 72 | 61 | |
abstentions | 0 | 2 | 1 |
required majority | 129 | 128 | 128 |
Asia-Pacific Group election results | |
---|---|
Member | Round 1 |
129 | |
55 | |
1 |
Fiji had already withdrawn its campaign in favour of Pakistan before the election. [23]
Guatemala ran unopposed for the GRULAC seat, and was elected with 191 votes in the first round of voting, with two abstentions. [9]
Eastern European Group election results — day one | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Member | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Round 9 [2] | ||||
74 | 90 | 93 | 93 | 98 | 96 | 100 | 110 | 113 | |||||
67 | 97 | 99 | 98 | 93 | 95 | 91 | 80 | 77 | |||||
52 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | |||||
— | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | |||||
ballot papers | 193 | 193 | 193 | 192 | 193 | 193 | 193 | 191 | 191 | ||||
abstentions | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
invalid votes | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
required majority | 129 | 125 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 127 | 127 |
After eight rounds of inconclusive voting, General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser initially decided to re-schedule the next round of voting for 24 October following the election of members to the Economic and Social Council. However, Azerbaijan requested the ballot be continued for one more hour; the request was agreed to after Russian support despite opposition from France on the basis of a lack of translation services. [9]
Though Estonia had not applied as a candidate, the 6th round, which was unrestricted, featured one vote for them. [24]
Eastern European Group election results — day two | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Member | Round 10 | Round 11 | Round 12 | Round 13 | Round 14 | Round 15 | Round 16 | Round 17 | |||||
110 | 110 | 111 | 111 | 110 | 117 | 116 | 155 | ||||||
83 | 82 | 81 | 80 | 81 | 76 | 77 | 13 | ||||||
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | ||||||
ballot papers | 193 | 193 | 193 | 192 | 192 | 193 | 193 | 193 | |||||
abstentions | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 24 | |||||
required majority | 129 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 129 | 129 | 113 |
After 7 additional inconclusive rounds of voting on 24 October, Slovenia's delegation told the General Assembly that while it believed Slovenia would be a good addition for the Security Council, it did not approve of the way in which the election was being held and was withdrawing its candidacy as the "will of the Assembly was clear". [25] [26] In the 17th round that followed, Azerbaijan achieved the necessary 2/3 majority and won the Eastern European seat. [27]
With the election of Pakistan to the Security Council, seven of the nine countries known to have nuclear weapons are members of the Council in 2012: China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom (the two nuclear powers not on the Council in 2012 are Israel and North Korea). [28]
The 2006 United Nations Security Council election began on 16 October 2006 during the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2007.
The 2014 United Nations Security Council election was held on 16 October 2014 during the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2015. In accordance with the Security Council's rotation rules, whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes, the five available seats were allocated as follows:
The 2013 United Nations Security Council election was held on 17 October 2013 during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The Assembly elected Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia for five non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2014. The following day, Saudi Arabia announced that it was declining the seat, accusing UNSC of using "double standards" and being unable to resolve important issues in the Middle East. A second round of voting therefore took place on 6 December, in which Jordan was elected to the Council in lieu of Saudi Arabia.
The 1999 United Nations Security Council election was held on 14 October 1999 during the Fifty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia, and Ukraine, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2000.
The 1994 United Nations Security Council election was held on 20 October 1994 during the Forty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Botswana, Germany, Honduras, Indonesia, and Italy, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1995.
The 1993 United Nations Security Council election was held on 29 October 1993 during the Forty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Argentina, the Czech Republic, Nigeria, Oman, and Rwanda, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1994.
The 1992 United Nations Security Council election was held on 27 October 1992 during the Forty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Brazil, Djibouti, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Spain, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1993.
The 1991 United Nations Security Council election was held on 16 October 1991 during the Forty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Cape Verde, Hungary, Japan, Morocco, and Venezuela, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1992.
The 1988 United Nations Security Council election was held on 26 October 1988 during the Forty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, Finland, and Malaysia, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1989.
The 1987 United Nations Security Council election was held on 15 October 1987 during the Forty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Algeria, Brazil, Nepal, Senegal, and Yugoslavia, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1988.
The 1986 United Nations Security Council election was held on 16 October 1986 during the Forty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Argentina, Italy, Japan, West Germany, and Zambia, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1987.
The 1984 United Nations Security Council election was held from 22 October to 18 December 1984 during the Thirty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Australia, Denmark, Madagascar, Thailand, and Trinidad and Tobago, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1985.
The 1982 United Nations Security Council election was held on 19 October 1982 during the Thirty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Malta, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1983.
The 1977 United Nations Security Council election was held on 24 October 1977 during the Thirty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Bolivia, Czechoslovakia, Gabon, Kuwait, and Nigeria, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1978.
The 2016 United Nations Security Council election was held on 28 June during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2017. In accordance with the Security Council's rotation rules, whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes, the five available seats were allocated as follows:
The 1975 United Nations Security Council election was held on between 20 October and 23 October 1975 during the Thirtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Dahomey, Libya, Pakistan, Panama, and Romania, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1976.
The 1974 United Nations Security Council election was held on 11 October 1974 during the Twenty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Guyana, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and Tanzania, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1975.
The 1969 United Nations Security Council election was held on 20 October 1969 during the Twenty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected the Burundi, Nicaragua, Poland, Sierra Leone, and Syria, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1970.
The 1968 United Nations Security Council election was held on 1 November 1968 during the Twenty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Colombia, Finland, Nepal, Spain, and Zambia, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1969.
The 1967 United Nations Security Council election was held on 6 November 1967 during the Twenty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Algeria, Hungary, Pakistan, Paraguay, and Senegal, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1968.