SECURITY COUNCIL REPORT SPECIAL RESEARCH REPORT65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C...This report and links to all of...

Security council electionS 2011

SPECIAL RESEARCH REPORT SECURITY COUNCIL REPORT

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This report and links to all of the relevant documents are available on our website at www.securitycouncilreport.org

Security Council Report One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, 885 Second Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10017 T:1 212 759 9429 F:1 212 759 4038 www.securitycouncilreport.org

2011 No. 421 September 2011

Africahasthreecandidatesforthetwoavailable seats: Mauritania, Moroccoand Togo. One of the two availableAfricaseatsisdesignatedasthe“Arabswing seat”;Mauritania andMoroccoarecompetingagainst eachother forthis seat. (The Arab swing seat alter-nates every two years between theAsian and the African groups.) Togo,whichhasbeenendorsedbytheAfricagroup,isthereforeineffectrunningona“clean slate” for the other availableAfricaseat.n Mauritania(admittedtotheUNon27

October1961)hasservedonetermontheCouncil(1974-1975);

n Morocco(admittedtotheUNon12November 1956) has served twoterms on the Council (1963-1964,1992-1993);and

n Togo(admittedtotheUNon20Sep-tember1960)hasservedonetermontheCouncil(1982-1983).

Asia has two candidates for the oneavailableseat(Fijihadbeenintherun-ningatonetimebutwithdrewinearly2011).Thetwocandidatesare:n Kyrgyzstan(admittedtotheUNon2

March1992,havingbeenapartoftheSoviet Union until its breakup in1991),whichhasneverservedontheCouncil;and

n Pakistan(admittedtotheUNon30September1947),whichhasservedsixtermsontheCouncil(1952-1953,1968-1969, 1976-1977, 1983-1984,1993-1994and2003-2004).

1. Introduction

Elections for theSecurityCouncilaresettobeheldbythe66thsessionoftheUNGeneralAssemblyon13October.Fiveofthetennon-permanentseatsontheCouncilwillbefilled for the2012-2013term.

The five seats available for electionin 2011 will be distributed regionallyasfollows:n twoseats for theAfricaGroup(cur-

rentlyheldbyGabonandNigeria);n oneseat forAsia (currentlyheldby

Lebanon);n oneseatforEasternEurope(currently

held by Bosnia and Herzegovina);and

n one seat for the Group of LatinAmerican and Caribbean States orGRULAC(currentlyheldbyBrazil).

Thefivenewmemberselectedthisyearwill take up their seats on 1 January2012 and will serve on the SecurityCounciluntil31December2013.

TheproceduresgoverningelectionstotheSecurityCouncilaresetoutindetailinAnnex1.Atpresstime,itappearsthatonlyoneofthecandidateswillenjoya“cleanslate”election.Guatemalaistheonly candidate for the GRULAC seat.AlthoughafoundingmemberoftheUNithasneverbeenaCouncilmember.

In contrast, it appears that the threeotherracesmaybecontested(Africa,AsiaandEasternEurope).

Table of ConTenTS

1. Introduction ............................... 1

2. The Contested Seats .................2

TheAfricanSeats......................... 2

TheAsianSeat.............................. 4

TheEasternEuropeanSeat......... 4

3. The Uncontested Seat ...............4

TheGRULACSeat........................ 4

4. Possible Issues Involving

Council Membership

During 2012 ................................ 5

5. Modern Regional Groupings

and established Practices ........6

AfricanGroup............................... 6

AsianGroup.................................. 7

ArabSwingSeat........................... 7

EasternEuropeanGroup............. 7

WesternEuropeanand

OthersGroup............................... 8

LatinAmericanand

CaribbeanGroup......................... 8

6. established Practices in

becoming a Candidate .............8

7. Un Documents .......................... 9

8. Useful additional Sources ........9

annex 1: Rules and Process for

election to the Council:

Relevant Charter Provisions

and Rules of Procedure .......... 10

annex 2: Historical background .... 11

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Eastern Europe has three candidatesfortheoneavailableseat(itwasthoughtatonetimethatArmeniawouldalsobeintherunning,butitmadeitclearinthespringthatitwouldnotbeacandidatethisyear.)Thecandidatesare:n Azerbaijan(admittedtotheUNon2

March1992havingbeenapartoftheSoviet Union until its breakup in1991),whichhasnotyet servedontheCouncil;

n Hungary(admittedto theUNon14December1955),whichhasservedtwotermsontheCouncil(1968-1969and1992-1993);and

n Slovenia(admittedto theUNon22May1992),whichhasservedontheCouncil once (1998-1999) and waspreviouslyrepresentedfourtimesaspartofYugoslavia(1950-1951,1956,1972-1973and1988-1989).

To be elected, regardless of whetherthe election is contested, a countryneeds to secure the support of two-thirds of the members which arepresent and voting at the GeneralAssemblysession(aminimumof129votesifall193memberstatespartici-pate,althoughitispossibleforsometobeprecludedfromvotingbyvirtueofarticle19oftheCharterduetoarrearsinpaymentoffinancialcontributions).

Formal balloting is required for elec-tionstoaprincipalorganoftheUNsuchastheCouncil,evenifcandidateshavebeenendorsedbytheirregionalgroupandarerunningona“cleanslate”.Ifnocandidategarnerstherequisitenumberofvotesinthefirstround,thevotingisrestricted to the top vote getters (thenumber of countries included on therestrictedballot is limited to twice thenumberofvacantseats:twocandidatesforasingleunfilledseatorfourcandi-dates for two unfilled seats). Thisrestricted voting continues for up tothree additional rounds of voting. If a

candidatestill fails toobtain themini-mum number of votes, unrestrictedvotingisreopenedforanycandidatesforuptothreerounds.Thispatternofrestrictedandunrestrictedvotingcon-tinuesuntilacandidateissuccessfulinsecuring a seat. (Extended multipleroundsofvotinghaveoccurredinthepast,mostrecentlyin2006,whenGua-temalaandVenezuelawentthrough47roundsofvotingbeforebothwithdrewand Panama was elected in the 48thround. The 1979 election establishedan all-time high for Security Councilelections with 154 rounds of votingbetween Colombia and Cuba beforeMexicowaselectedinthe155throundasacompromisecandidate.)

Thetablebelowcomparesthenumberof available seats by region, thedeclaredcandidatesandtheirpreviousexperienceontheCouncil.

2. The Contested Seats

The african SeatsTwoofthethreeCouncilseatsallocatedtoAfricacomeupforelectioneverytwoyears(withanotherseatcomingupforelectiontheyearinbetween).ElectionsfortheseatsallocatedtoAfricatendtobeuncontestedduetothefactthattheAfricaGroupmaintainsanestablishedpatternofrotationbetweenitsvarioussubregions. In2011,however, there isthe unusual situation of three candi-dates being in contention for the twoavailable seats. As only one of theseseats isallocatedastheNorthAfrica/Arabswingseat,twoofthecandidates,MauritaniaandMorocco,arecompet-ingforthesameseat.TheotherAfricaseatisallocatedbytheAfricagrouptothe Western Africa subregion. There-fore, for practical purposes, Togo is

Region available Seats in the 2011 election

States Running

Previous Terms on the Council

Africa 2 Mauritania

Morocco

Togo

Oneterm(1974-1975)

Twoterms(1963-1964,1992-1993)

Oneterm(1982-1983)

Asia 1 Kyrgyzstan

Pakistan

NopriorCouncilservice

Sixterms(1952-1953,1968-1969,1976-1977,1983-1984,1993-1994,2003-2004)

EasternEurope 1 Azerbaijan

Hungary

Slovenia

NopriorCouncilservice

Twoterms(1968-1969,1992-1993)

Oneterm(1998-1999)

LatinAmericanandCaribbean

1 Guatemala NopriorCouncilservice

3Security Council Report One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, 885 Second Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10017 T:1 212 759 9429 F:1 212 759 4038 www.securitycouncilreport.org

runningunopposedfortheotherAfricaseat.(PleaseseeSection5ofthisreportformoredetailontheArabswingseat,established practices and dynamicswithinthegroup.)

ItisusefultonoteherethatMauritaniaused to be in the West Africa subre-gional grouping until 2004 when itbecameamemberoftheNorthAfricagroup.(SomeAfricancountrieshaveattimes chosen to change their subre-gional affiliation by shifting from onesubgrouptoanother.)

While the usual practice of the NorthAfricangroupisapparentlythatanewmembershouldstartat thebottomoftherotationforaCouncilseat,Maurita-niahasasserteditsrightasamemberstatetomakeitsownchoiceaswhentorun for a seat. The contest betweenMauritania and Morocco this year iscomplicatedbythefactthatMauritaniahasreceivedendorsementfromtheAU,whereasMorocco—whoisnotamem-beroftheAU—didnot.

GeneralAssemblymembersarelikelytotakeintoconsiderationarangeoffac-torsintheirvoting,includinghistoricalpatternsrelatedtoparticipationontheCouncil and contributions to interna-tional peace and security. All threecandidates for the Africa seats havepreviouslyservedontheCouncil.

MAURiTAniAMauritaniaistheAfricancandidatewiththe least recent experience on theCouncil, having served over threedecadesago in1974-1975.This is itsfirstCouncilbidsince1973(Mauritaniadid declare itself a candidate in the2007electionsbybypassingtheusualendorsement process and simply

notifyingthePresidentoftheGeneralAssembly.However,itwithdrewitscan-didatureandsubsequentlyannounceditwouldberunningin2011.)Mauritaniaemphasisesthatitscurrentcandidacywas endorsed by the AU in January.Memberstateswillalsolikelytakeintoconsideration the fact thatMauritaniahasbeenofftheCouncillongerthanitsmaincompetitor,Morocco.AsofJuly2011, Mauritania was not listed as atroop contributor to UN operationsbyDPKO.

MOROCCOMoroccoistheAfricancandidatewiththemostrecentservice,havingservedontheCouncilin1992-1993.Moroccopointsout that itscampaign is in linewiththepracticeofrotationforCouncilseatsestablishedbytheAfricagroup.TheAU(ofwhichitisnotamember)isanimportantregionalorganisation,butadifferententitythantheAfricagroup.Moroccoemphasisesitslong-standingcommitmenttoUNpeacekeeping,sus-tainabledevelopmentandaresolutiontotheMiddleEastconflict.Ithaspartici-pated in a number of peacekeepingmissions including the Congo opera-tionin1962andthecurrentmissioninCôted’Ivoire.Moroccoisatop-twentytroop contributor with about 1,500troopsandpolicedeployed.

TOGOTogo emphasises its commitment toCouncil reform including permanentseats for countries from the globalSouth. It also hopes to focus onstrengtheninginternationallawandfur-thering human rights. Togo currentlyhasabout700troopandpolicepeace-keepersdeployedinseveralcountries.

Mostobserversseemtoexpectthat,astheonlyendorsedWestAfricancandi-date,Togowillprevailrelativelyeasily.However,thevotingrulesrequireformalballotingandthereisnodifferentiationbetweensubregionstoreflectspecificagreementswithingroups.Asaresult,althoughbothMauritaniaandMoroccoare incompetition fora ‘NorthAfrica’Arabswingseatslot, theUNGeneralAssemblyvotesonbothseatsatonceandTogocould,inprinciple,losevotestobothMauritaniaandMorocco.

Thereareanumberofpossibleelectionscenarios for the two Africa seats,including:n oneofthetwocandidatesrunningfor

theArabswingseat,aswellas thecandidaterunningfortheWestAfricasubregion,mayobtainthenecessarytwo-thirds of the votes in the firstroundofvoting;

n the candidate running for the WestAfricasubregionmayobtainthenec-essarytwo-thirdsofthevotesinthefirst round with neither of the othertworunningfortheArabswingseatobtaining a two-thirds majority (insuch a case the voting would con-tinuefortheoneremainingseatuntila candidate obtains the necessarynumberofseats);

n the two candidates running for theArabswingseatmayobtainthenec-essarytwo-thirdsofthevotesinthefirstround,resultinginnoWestAfricacandidatebeingelected(aseeminglyunlikelypossibilitydue to thedisci-plined nature of the Africa group’srotationsystem);or

n multiple rounds of voting may takeplace because all three candidatesinitially fail to obtain the two-thirdsmajority.

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The asian SeatOneofthetwoCouncilseatsallocatedto Asia comes up for election everyyear.PakistanandKyrgyzstanarevyingfortheAsianseatthisyear.Thecandi-dates’ contributions to internationalpeaceandsecurityandtheirpreviousparticipationontheCouncilarevaried.

KyRGyzSTAnIfelected,KyrgyzstanwouldtakeaseatontheCouncilforthefirsttimesinceitwasadmittedtotheUNin1992.Itwouldalso be the first of the Central Asiancountries (formerly republics of theSoviet Union) elected to the Council.Kyrgyzstanemphasisesitsintentiontorepresent the interestsof small statesand work toward broader geographicrepresentationontheCouncil.IthopestoreinvigorateanumberofissuesontheCouncil’sagendaifitissuccessfulinitselection bid, including Children andArmed Conflict and the Middle East.Kyrgyzstanalsomaintainsaparticularfocusonclimatechange,aswellasnon-proliferationanddisarmamentandisasignatoryoftheCentralAsianNuclearWeaponFreeZone treaty.Kyrgyzstanhas about a dozen police and troopsdeployedwithpeacekeepingmissions.

PAKiSTAnIf successful, Pakistan would take aseatontheCouncil for the2012-2013termafterasevenyearabsence.AsofJuly 2011, with over 10,000 troopsand police deployed, Pakistan is thesecondhighesttroop-contributortoUNpeacekeepingoperations, justbehindBangladesh.Ithasconsistentlyrankedfirstorsecondoverthelastdecade.Anactiveparticipant inpeacekeeping foroverfiftyyears, ithasmaintained thiscommitment in spite of competingdomesticdemandsrelatedtoterrorismand recentextensive flooding.As thecountry with the most peacekeepers

deployed inAfrica,Pakistanhopes tofocusinpartonregionalissuesonthatcontinent.NeighbouringAfghanistanisofparticularinteresttoPakistan,asarenon-proliferation, Council reform andclimatechange.

The eastern european SeatAn Eastern Europe member state iselectedtotheCouncileveryotheryear.In2011,threecandidatesareinconten-tionfortheoneEasternEuropeanseat(competition has increased since theearly1990s,when thebreakupof theSoviet Union, Czechoslovakia andYugoslavia increased the number ofmembersofthegroupfrom10to23).

AzERbAijAnIfelected,AzerbaijanwouldserveontheCouncilforthefirsttimesinceitwasadmittedtotheUNin1992.Ithopestoensure greater transparency in theCouncil’sdecisionmakingprocessandfostergreaterinvolvementintheworkof the Council by member states. ItbelievesaCouncilmorerepresentativeof the general membership canaddressglobalchallengesmoreeffec-tively. Azerbaijan emphasises itscommitmenttonon-proliferation,disar-mament and counterterrorism effortsas well as the promotion of humanrights.AsofJuly2011,Azerbaijanwasnotrankedasatroop-contributortoUNoperationsbyDPKO.

HUnGARyWereHungarytowinelectionitwouldundertakeitsthirdtermontheCouncil,havingservedin1968-1969and1992-1993.Hungarypointstotheexperienceithasaccumulatedinitspasttermsonthe Council, in particular 1992-1993whenthesituationintheBalkanswasasignificant issue of concern for theinternational community. It empha-sises the need for a comprehensive

approachtotheissuesontheCouncil’sagendathatincludesconsiderationoflocal traditions, organisations andcapacitiesinconflictsituations,aswellas close cooperation with regionalsecurity organisations. In addition,Hungaryhasbeeninvolvedinanum-ber of peacekeeping missions since1988,includingLebanonandtheDRCamongothers,andcurrentlyhasover80policeandtroopsdeployedinsup-portofpeacekeepingoperations.

SLOvEniASlovenia declared its intention to runwithin months of completing its firsttermasaCouncilmember,from1998-1999.SloveniastressesthevalueofthispastexperienceontheCouncil,includ-ing the fact that its current presidentandforeignministerbothgainedexperi-enceatthecountry’sUNmissionduringthoseyears.Ifsuccessfulinitsbidforaseat,ithopestopromoteconflictpre-vention(afocusduringtheirfirsttermontheCouncil)andregionalcooperation,increasethetransparencyoftheCoun-cilandbetteraddressclimatechangeas a potential source of conflict. Inaddition,Sloveniahopestoimprovetar-getedsanctionsregimes, forexamplebygivingspecialattentiontolistinganddelisting procedures across commit-tees.Sloveniahasoveradozenpoliceand troops deployed in support ofpeacekeepingoperations.

3. The Uncontested Seat

The only uncontested seat is alsosoughtby theonly candidate in2011whoisafoundingmemberoftheUN.

The GRUlaC SeatGuatemala,afoundingmemberoftheUN,stressestherightsofsmallstatestoserve on the Council as one way of


ensuringbroadgeographicalrepresen-tation.ItassertsthatalthoughithasnotyetservedontheCouncil,ithashard-earned historical experience dealingwithlong-runningconflictandwillbeavaluableresource.GuatemalahopestohelpimproveontheworkingmethodsoftheCouncil,forexamplebyfosteringmore Council interaction duringdebates.Guatemalahasalsobecomeincreasinglyinvolvedinpeacekeepingoperations in the past decade or so,includingthemissionsinHaitiandtheDRC,andplanstosupportmorerealis-tic and pragmatic peacekeepingmandates in general. It has over 300policeandtroopsdeployedtopeace-keepingoperations.

Guatemala’slastbidforaCouncilseatwas in 2006 and involved extendedrounds of voting against Venezuela.After47roundsofvotingoverseveralweeks,GuatemalaandVenezuelawith-drew with Panama coming in as thecompromise candidate in the 48thround.(Thoughtheprocesstooksometime,the2006electionalsohighlightedthepotentialforregionalgroupstoplayan important role in resolving suchdeadlocks, with GRULAC activelyinvolvedinfindingacompromisecandi-dateandinpersuadingVenezuelaandGuatemalatostepdown.)

In theyearssince the2006elections,GRULACseemstohavebeenstrivingtowardgreatercoordinationinordertoavoidcontestedseats.Ithasmetwithsomesuccess,asMexicoin2008,Bra-zil in 2009, Colombia in 2010 andGuatemala in2011haveallbeensolecandidates. However, some point outthat the real test will come when thelargercountriesinthegroup(suchasArgentina, who is running next year,Brazil,whorotatesofftheCouncilthisyear, or Mexico, who rotated off the

Council last year) have to wait untileither their rotational turn comes upagainortonegotiatetradingplaceswithanothercountry.Inaddition,Caribbeancountries that decide to run for theGRULAC seat may complicate theemerging commitment to fieldinguncontestedcandidates.

Some have argued that such non-competitiveelectionscanresultinmorecomplacentCouncilmembersbecausecandidateswillnothavebeenrequiredto more clearly define their prioritiesandpolicieswhilecampaigning.How-ever, others assert that clean slatecandidatesenhanceeffectivenessandavoidregionalorwidertensions,aswellasallowingcandidatestousethetimeand resources they would haveexpended in contested elections tobeginadvancepreparations forbeingontheCouncil.

4. Possible Issues Involving Council Membership During 2012

While it is impossible to predict thefuture actions and approach of theCouncilbasedonmembershipalone,itmaybeusefultokeepinmindseveralpossibilitiesthatexistwithregardtothemakeupoftheCouncilnextyear.Oneisthatlong-timeregionalrivalsIndiaandPakistan may serve together on theCouncilin2012(Indiawillcompletethesecondyearofitsserviceattheendofthatyear).Ifthisweretooccur,itraisestheinterestingquestionofwhethertheirsharedhistory(includingopenconflictatsometimesinthepast)mayimpacton overall Council decisionmaking ortheabilitytoreachconsensusoncertainissues.However,itisimportanttokeepinmindthatifPakistanissuccessfulin

theelection,itwillnotbethefirsttimethetwohaveservedontheCouncilcon-currently. India and Pakistan haveservedoverlappingtermsthreetimesinthe past, in 1968, 1977 and 1984. Itwould therefore not be an unprece-dentedsituation,althoughsomerecenttensions between the two countriesmaybringanovelelementtotheirwork-ingrelationship.

There is also some potential for anincreased presence of Non-AlignedMovement (NAM) members on theCouncil.At leastthreeNAMmembersarelikelytobeelectedthisyear(allthecandidates for the African and LatinAmerican and Caribbean seats areNAMmembers).Thiswillbalance thethreeNAMmemberswhoarerotatingoff theCouncil (Gabon,LebanonandNigeria—whileBosnia andHerzegov-inaandBrazilhaveobserverstatuswithNAMbutarenotmembers.)However,with NAM members Azerbaijan andPakistanrunningfortheEastEuropeanandAsianseatsrespectively,itisalsopossible thatall fivestateselected tonon-permanent seats on the CouncilthisyearcouldbeNAMmembers.

Likewise, EU representation on theCouncilmayalsoincrease.FranceandtheUK,twooftheCouncil’spermanentmembers,arepartoftheEU.Germanyand Portugal are both EU membersholding non-permanent seats on theCounciluntiltheendof2012.Withnei-ther rotatingoff theCouncil thisyear,the number of EU members will holdsteady.However,HungaryandSlove-niaarebothmembersoftheEUandifeither is elected to fill the EasternEurope seat, this would increase thenumberofEUmembersontheCounciltofive,orone-thirdoftheentireCouncil,for2012.

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the selection of candidates. Subre-gionalgroupswithintheAfricanGrouptendtofollowadisciplinedrotationsys-tem.Theoretically,under thissystem,everycountryinAfricashouldeventu-allygetaturntobeacandidateforaseatontheCouncil.

InpracticethisdoesmeanthattheUNmembershipatlargehaslittlechoiceontheAfricancandidate.TheAfricanrota-tion should follow a systematic cyclebasedonthefollowingprinciple:n NorthAfricaandCentralAfricarotate

oneseateverytwoyears;n Western Africa has one seat every

twoyears;andn Eastern Africa and Southern Africa

rotateoneseateverytwoyears.

However,thepicturebecomescompli-catedattimesbecausecountrieswithinasubregionalgroupcanchange theiraffiliation.Also,somecountriesthatcanclaim to straddlemore thanonegeo-graphic region have at times indeedchosen toshift fromonesubgroup toanother.Challengerscanemergewithinthesamesubregionalgroupingupset-tingtherotation.Candidatescanoftenbe persuaded to drop out to avoid acompetitive election. Moreover, therehavebeentimeswhenchallengershaveemerged and continued all the waythroughtheelection.Inaddition,withinasubgroupsomecountriesmaychoosetorunmoreoften,whileotherschoosetorunlessfrequentlyornotatall.

TheprocessforselectingacandidateintheAfricagroupusuallyhasadefinedpath. First, the subregional groupsselectthepotentialcandidatesandfor-wardtheirnamestotheAfricanGroupofambassadorsforendorsement.TheambassadorssubmitthecandidatestotheCommitteeonCandidaturesoftheAfricanGroupinNewYorkwhichthen

Asianseatsoperateseparatelyandthisreportfollowsthatcustomarypractice.

The UN Charter provides that non-permanentmemberswouldbeelectedaccording to equitable, geographicdistribution. It does not stipulate howthat should be achieved. Nor does itsuggest a possible composition ofappropriategeographicalgroups.Nev-ertheless, the principle of equitablegeographicdistributiongaverisetotheestablishmentofelectoralgroupsasavehicle for achieving that goal. Theregionalgroups,astheynowoperate,areasfollows:

AfricanGroup 54members

AsianGroup 53members

EasternEuropeanGroup 23members

GRULAC 33members

WEOG 28members

(CurrentlyonlyKiribatidoesnotpartici-pateinanyregionalgroupingwithintheUN.) The US is not a member of anygroup but attends meetings of theWEOGasanobserverand isconsid-ered a member of this group forelectoral purposes. Israel, which waswithout any group membership formanyyears,wasgiventemporarymem-bershipinWEOGinMay2000,whichissubject to renewal every four years(Israelhasannounced that itplans torun for a seat on the Council underWEOGin2018).

african Group Most of the groups have informalunderstandingswhicharenotcodifiedintoactualrules.TheAfricanGroupisan exception to this in that it hasadoptedtheRulesofProcedureoftheAUMinisterialCommitteeonCandida-tureswithintheInternationalSystemfor

Regardlessoftheoutcomeofthisyear’selection, the presence of emergingregionalpowerswill continue tohavethepotentialtoaffectdynamicsontheCouncil.WhileBrazilandNigeriarotateofftheCouncilattheendof2011,IndiaandSouthAfricawillremainforanotheryear. Germany, another participant intheGroupofFour(G4),willalsoservethrough 2012 (the G4, comprised ofBrazil, Germany, India and Japan,formedin2004topushforexpansionoftheCouncil).Inaddition,twomembersof the India-Brazil-South Africa Dia-logueForum(IBSA)willremainontheCouncil.(TheaimofIBSAistoenhancetrilateral relations between the coun-tries as well as promoting broader“South-South”cooperation.)

Finally, fourof thefive“BRICS”mem-bers(apoliticalgroupingofemergingmarket countries consisting of Brazil,Russia,India,ChinaandSouthAfrica)willremainontheCouncilafterBrazil’sdeparture.WhileitdoesnotappearthatthepresenceofG4, IBSAandBRICScountries on the Council in 2011 hasresultedindramaticchangesinthewaythe Council carries out its work, it isprudenttotakeintoconsiderationtheirpotential coordination on issues ofcommonconcern.

5. Modern Regional Groupings and Established Practices

Since1963theregionalgroupsforthepurposes of elections to the SecurityCouncilhavebeengovernedbyafor-mula set out in General Assemblyresolution 1991 A (XVIII). Under thatresolutiontheseatspreviouslyavailableto the African and Asian states werecombined.However,inrealitythecan-didatesforelectionsfortheAfricanand


MiddleEastseat,therewasayearwithnoArabstateontheCouncil.Itappearsthatatsomepointtherewasaninformalagreement,althoughthereseemtobenoknownrecords,thatoneseatwouldbereservedforanArabstateandthatAsiaandAfricawouldtaketurnseverytwoyearstoprovideasuitablecandi-date.Asaresultthisseatisoftencalledthe“Arabswingseat”.Since1968,theArabcandidatefromtheAfricanGrouphasgenerallycomefromNorthAfricaexcept for when Sudan occupied theseat in 1972-1973. The Asian Groupworks on the informal understandingthatitwillfieldasuitableArabcandidateevery fouryears. (Lebanonholds thisseatfor2010-2011.)AlthoughthisisaninformalagreementbetweentheAsianandAfricanGroups,since1968aseathasbeencontinuouslyoccupiedbyanArabcountry.

eastern european GroupThe Eastern European Group is thesmallestgroup,consistingof23states.Butitisthegroupthathasincreasedthemost in recentyears,withfifteennewmemberssince1991duetothedissolu-tionoftheSovietUnionandthesplittingofotherstatesintheregion.TheEast-ernEuropeanseatwasincludedinthepermanent members’ “gentlemen’sagreement” in 1946. But soon, themeaning of that agreement was con-tested with the Soviet Union and theWest for twenty years vying to placetheirpreferredcandidatesinthisseat.Italso became a hotly contested seatamongnewmemberstatesthatdidnothave a clear regional grouping (forexamplethePhilippinesin1955,whentherewasnoAsianseat).AlthoughTur-keyrunsnowasamemberofWEOG,in1961itoccupiedtheEasternEuropeanseatontheCouncil.

East, Northeast Asia and SoutheastAsia—has led to a much looserregionalgrouping.

Stillsomepatternshaveemerged.Untilthemid-90stherewasanalmostcon-tinuousSouthAsianpresenceon theCouncilwithIndia,Pakistan,NepalandBangladesh occupying seats on theCouncil.However, thesecountriesdonotappeartohaveapolicyofnotrun-ningagainsteachother.(In1975,IndiaandPakistancontestedthesameseatgoing to eight rounds with Pakistanfinallywinning.)

Since1958,Japanalsohasbeenareg-ularpresenceontheCouncilandhasaccumulated20yearsontheCouncilbyrunningalmosteveryfouryearsbegin-ningin1966.Thelackofaformalrotationsystem has meant that there is oftencompetition for theAsianseatregard-less of whether a candidate declaresitself far in advance. Larger countrieslikeJapanhavetendedtodeclaretheircandidacy closer to the election yearwhilesmallercountrieshavetendedtoannounce their decision to run manyyearsaheadoftime.TheonlysubgroupwithintheAsianGroupwhichendorsesits candidates is the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN)made up of the ten Southeast Asiancountries,thoughthereisnopolicyofASEANregularlyfieldingcandidates.

arab Swing SeatThere is an established practice thatspanstheAsianandAfricanGroups.Asdiscussed inAnnex2below,GeneralAssemblyresolution1991A(XVIII)pro-videdfiveseatsfor“AsiaandAfrica”andinpracticetheseatshavebeendividedinto threeseats forAfricaand two forAsia. In 1967, after Jordan ended itstwo-year term in what had been the

transmitsthecandidatestotheMiniste-rialCommitteeonCandidaturesoftheAU which follows its written Rules ofProcedure in selecting candidates.(The African Group and the AU aremadeupofthesamememberswiththeexception of Morocco which is not apartoftheAU.)Regionalorganisations,suchas theEconomicCommunityofWest African States (ECOWAS), mayadd their endorsementbefore the listgoestotheAUministers.Afinaldeci-sion is then taken by the ExecutiveCommittee,madeupoftheAUleaders,duringAUsummitmeetings.However,despite these written Rules of Proce-dure for candidate selection, somecountries in the past have submittedtheir candidature directly to the AUMinisterialCommitteeonCandidaturesbypassingtheprocessinNewYork.

Overallthesystemofrotationtendstofavour “clean slate” elections. Therehavebeentimeswhenthishasresultedincandidatesbeingelectedthatwouldhavestruggledinacontestedelectionand whose presence on the Counciladded little or nothing to resolvingproblems (Rwanda’selection in1993anditsperformanceduringthegeno-cide in1994 is anexample.)A factorwhichseemstobecomingmore intoplayisthegrowingdesirebythelargercountries in the region to be electedmoreoftenthanstrictadherencetotherotationsystemwouldallow.Itremainstobeseenhowthisfactorwillplayoutinthefuture.

asian GroupIn the Asian Group there are no for-mallyestablishedpracticesforrotationofseats.Whileithasalmostthesamenumber of countries as the AfricanGroup, the Asian Group’s wide geo-graphic span—covering the Middle

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votingsessionsinUNhistory.Asmen-tioned above, in 1979, the contestbetweenCubaandColombiawentto154roundsbeforeMexicowaselectedas a compromise candidate in the155th round. In 2006, there were 47roundsbetweenGuatemalaandVen-ezuelawithPanamafinallycominginas the compromise candidate in the48thround.

After thedifficulties in2006, theLatinAmericancountriesinGRULACappeartobemovingtowardsfavouringamorecoordinatedsystemtoavoidhighlycon-tentiouscompetition in futureCouncilelections.Thereisanemergingsensethatthereshouldonlybeonecandidaterunning each year and that LatinAmerican countries are conscious ofnot competing with each other. Thisapproach is at some risk, however,becauseitignoreswhatwillhappenifaCaribbeancountrychoosestocompete(as shown when a Saint Vincent andGrenadinescandidacyseemedpossi-bleearlyin2010).Anotherpossibilityisthat the larger countries in the group(suchasArgentina,BrazilandMexico)maydecidetorunmoreregularly.

6. Established Practicesin Becoming a Candidate

WiththeexceptionoftheAfricanGroup,which has a more codified process,most candidates follow a fairly stan-dardpathinannouncingandpursuingtheircandidacy for theCouncil. If thecountryisamemberofasubregionalgroup like the Nordic Group withinWEOG or ASEAN within the AsianGroup,itwilloftenfirstinformmembersofitssubregionalgroupofitsintentionto run and seek their support. The

There are several loose subgroupswithin WEOG: the Nordics (Denmark,Finland,Iceland,NorwayandSweden),theBenelux(Belgium,LuxembourgandTheNetherlands)andCANZ(Canada,AustraliaandNewZealand).Thereareinformal understandings within thesesubgroups which have helped mem-berstocampaignforeachother—thisisparticularly the case with the NordicandCANZcountries.

In the past it seems that there weresomelooseunderstandingsbetweenthe subgroups which sometimesenabledthemtoavoidcompetitionforthesameseat.Howeverthecontestedelectionsof2008(withAustria,Icelandand Turkey vying for the two seats)and2010(withCanada,GermanyandPortugal)suggestthatWEOGislikelyto remain highly competitive in thecomingyears.

latin american and Caribbean GroupAftertheexpansionoftheCouncilandthe reorganisation of the electoralgroups that occurred as a result ofGeneral Assembly resolution 1991 A(XVIII)—which was adopted in 1963and took effect in 1965—the LatinAmericanGrouptookintheCaribbeanstates,severalofthemmembersoftheBritish Commonwealth, and becametheGroupofLatinAmericanandCarib-bean states (GRULAC). Like most oftheothergroups,GRULAChasnofor-malrulesregardingrotation.Formuchof the lastsixtyyearsnon-Caribbeancountries have tended to dominateregional representation. Historically,thegroupwasoftenabletoreachcon-sensuson“cleanslates”.However,theGrouphasalsoproduced twoof themostprotractedandbitterlycontested

TheEasternEuropeanGroupgrewsig-nificantly in theaftermathof theColdWar,withthesplitofYugoslaviaintosixcountries (Bosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbiaand Montenegro), the break-up ofCzechoslovakia,andtheadmissionofsome former republics of the SovietUnion.BosniaandHerzegovinaisnowservingitsfirst termontheCouncil in2010-2011, following Croatia (2008-2009), Slovakia (2006-2007) andSlovenia (1998-1999). The CzechRepublic(whichuntil1992togetherwithSlovakia comprised Czechoslovakia)servedontheCouncilin1994-1995.

Western european and others GroupWEOGisthesecondsmallestregionalgrouping.Itisagroupwhosemembersshare broadly similar levels of eco-nomic development and politicalvalues but which is the most diversegeographically.ThegroupcomprisesWesternEuropeplusthe“Others”.Thislatter subgroup is made up of threemembersofwhatwaspreviouslycalledtheBritishCommonwealthGroup.TheBritish Commonwealth Group grewrapidlyinthelate1950sasstatesfromAfricaandAsiabecameindependent.Most of these newly independentstates eventually moved to the AsianandAfricanGroupsand toGRULAC.Canada, Australia and New Zealandbecame“theOthers”inWEOG.(WithFranceand theUKasmembers,andthe US attending meetings as anobserver,WEOGincludesthreeofthefivepermanentmembersoftheCoun-cil.) WEOG practices what might becalled an open market approach toelections which produces a regularpatternofcontestedcandidatures.


n TheCharteroftheUnitednations,ACommentary, Second Edition, Vol-umeII,EditedbyBrunoSimma,etal.OxfordUniversityPress,2002

n Eyes on the Prize: The Quest fornon-permanent Seats on the UnSecurity Council, David Malone,Global Governance, vol. 6, no.1,January-March2000

n What is Equitable GeographicRepresentation in the Twenty-FirstCentury edited by Ramesh Thakur,InternationalPeaceAcademy,Semi-narReport,26March1999

n The Procedure of the Un SecurityCouncil, Sydney Bailey and SamDaws,Chapter3,ClarendonPress,Oxford,1998

n The Once and Future SecurityCouncil,editedbyBruceRussett,StMartin’sPress,1997

n A History of the United nationsCharter,RuthRussell,TheBrookingsInstitute,1958

n Politics and Change in the SecurityCouncil, International Organisation,Vol. 14, No.3, Summer 1960, pp.381-401

n See http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/repertoire/ foranalysisof theques-tion of equitable geographicaldistributionunderarticle23.

n See http://www.africa-union.org/root /au/Conferences/Summits/summit.htm for a list of AU summitdecisions

n UnitednationsHandbook2009-2010andUnitednationsHandbook2010-2011publishedbytheNewZealandMinistryofForeignAffairsandTrade.

n RulesofProcedureoftheAUMiniste-rial Committee on CandidatureswithintheInternationalSystem,Doc.EX.CL/213(VIII)

• A/64/PV.20(15October2009)wastheplenaryrecordofthe2009electionsofnon-permanentmembers.

• A/59/881(20July2005)wasanoteverbalefromCostaRicacontain-inginformationonelectionsfrom1946to2004.

• A/55/463(9October2000)wastheletterfromUgandaonSudan’scandidature.

• A/RES1991A(XVIII)(17Decem-ber1963)wastheresolutionadoptingamendmentstotheCharteronthecompositionoftheCouncilandestablishingtheallo-cationofseatstovariousregions.

• GAOR1stSession,Part1,14thPlenarySessionandPartII(12January1946)wasthefirstelec-tionofnon-permanentmembers.

other

• UNCharter• A/520/Rev.15andamendment1

and2aretheRulesofProcedureoftheGeneralAssemblyincludingamendmentsandadditions.

• RepertoireofPracticeoftheUnitedNationsOrgans,Supple-ment6,VolumeIIIonArticle23

8. Useful Additional Sources

n TheOxfordHandbookontheUnitednations,editedbyThomasG.Weissand Sam Daws, Oxford UniversityPress,2007

n Reforming the United nations: Les-sons from a History in Progress,EdwardLuck,InternationalRelationsStudiesandtheUnitedNationsOcca-sionalPapers,2003,No.1

endorsementofthesubregionalgroup-ingthenbecomesanimportantfactorinthesecondstep.

Thesecondstepistowriteformallytoinformthemonthlychairoftheregionalgroup of the country’s intention tostandforelection.Thisisthenincorpo-rated by the chair in the group’s UNcandidacy chart which is maintainedbyeachregionalgroupandreviewedatmonthlygroupmeetings.Atthispointmost candidates prepare a circularnotetoallmissionsinNewYorkinform-ingthemofthecandidacy.

As the year for the relevant electionapproaches, the regional group maydecide to give its endorsement andnearer to the date of the election thechairof theregionalgroupwill informthepresidentoftheGeneralAssemblyof the “cleanslate”.Although there isnothing in the General Assembly’sRulesofProcedurespecifyingthatthisshouldbedone,mostcandidatesalsosend a note to the Secretariat or thepresident of the General Assemblyannouncingthecountry’scandidatureforaparticularyear.Ifthecountryhasbeenendorsedbyitsregionalgroup,itislikelytoprovidethatinformation.ThisbecomesaguidetohelptheSecretariatpreparetherelevantdocumentationfortheelectionprocess.

7. UN Documents

Selected General assembly Documents

• A/65/150(13July2010)wastheprovisionalprogrammeoftheplenaryforthe65thGeneralAssembly.

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Thevotingprocessisgovernedbyrules92,93and94oftheRulesofProcedureoftheGeneralAssembly.

Underrule92,electionstotheCouncilareheldbysecretballot.Nominationsare not required. Countries simplydeclare their intention to run, some-times many years ahead, either bycircularnotetoallmembersoftheUNortothechairoftheirregionalgroup-ing,orboth.

Rule93setsouttheprocedurewhichapplieswhenthereisonlyonevacancytobefilledandnocandidateobtainstherequiredtwo-thirdsmajorityinthefirstballot.Itprovides:

…asecondballotshallbetaken,whichshallberestrictedtothetwocandidatesobtainingthelargestnum-berofvotes…ifatwo-thirdsmajorityisrequiredtheballotingshallbecontin-ueduntilonecandidatesecurestwo-thirdsofthevotescast...

Whatthisfirstpartofrule93meansisthat if therearemore than twocandi-dates and no clear winner in the firstballot, the lowest polling candidatedropsoutandthecontestthencontin-uestoasecondballotbetweenthetoptwocandidates.Theeffectofrule93isthatvotingsimplycontinuesuntilonecandidateprevails,eitherbysecuringthe required majority or because theotherwithdraws.

If neither candidate receives therequired majority in the second andthirdballots,rule93saysthatafterthethirdinconclusiveballot,votesmaybecast for any eligible … Member. Thisallowsnewcandidatestocomeintotheprocessandthefourthballotisthere-fore technically referred to as anunrestrictedballot.(Alsoitwouldallow

TheCharteralsospecifies thecriteriathat the members of the GeneralAssemblyshouldapplywhenconsider-ingwhoshouldbeelectedtoserveontheCouncil.Itprovidesinarticle23thatdueregardshallbe:

…speciallypaid,inthefirstinstancetothecontributionofMembersoftheUnitednationstothemaintenanceofinternationalpeaceandsecurityandtotheotherpurposesoftheOrganization,andalsotoequitablegeographicaldistribution.

Contribution to the maintenance ofinternational peace and security isofteninterpretedinthiscontextaslev-elsofcontributiontopeacekeepingorfinancialcontributionsforpeacekeep-ingoperationsandpeaceprocesses.Contribution to theotherpurposesoftheorganisation,bycontrast,isaverywideterm.

AkeyproceduralprovisionoftheChar-ter,whichisrelevanttoSecurityCouncilelections,isarticle18(2).Thisrequiresatwo-thirdsmajorityvoteintheGeneralAssembly on important questions.Underthatarticle,electiontotheCoun-cilisdefinedasanimportantquestion.

In addition, article 18(3) defines therequiredmajoritybyreferencetomem-berspresentandvoting.Thisreferstomemberscastinganaffirmativeorneg-ativevote.Memberswhoabstainfromvotingareconsiderednotvoting.

Relevant Rules of ProcedureClosely contested elections to theSecurity Council can sometimes pro-ducetenseanddramaticsituationsonthe floor of the General Assembly. Insuchcircumstancesunderstandingtherelevant Rules of Procedure canbecomeveryimportant.

Annex 1: Rules and Process for Election to the Council: Relevant Charter Provisions and Rules of Procedure

Charter Provisions on election to the CouncilTheUNCharter,inarticle23,specifiesthe number of non-permanent mem-berstobeelected:

TheGeneralAssemblyshallelecttenotherMembersoftheUnitednationstobenon-permanentmembersoftheSecurityCouncil…

Italsostipulatesthelengthoftheirterm:Thenon-permanentmembers…shallbeelectedforatermoftwoyears.

Thepracticalimpactofrotationoccur-ring every two years is mitigated bystaggeringthecycle,sothatfivemem-bers are elected each year by theGeneral Assembly for the stipulatedtwo-yearperiod.Thiswasdeterminedbyrule142oftheRulesofProcedureoftheGeneralAssembly.

Despitethespecificationofatwo-yearterm there have been exceptions ofmembersservingshorterterms.Therehave been one-year terms, either tobreakelectoraldeadlocksortoestab-lishtherequiredrotationalcycle.

Article 23 also contains a provisionthat ensures that no member canbecomeadefactopermanentmem-berbybeingelectedtocontinuouslyserveintheCouncil:

Aretiringmembershallnotbeeligibleforimmediatere-election.

Thisisfurtherreinforcedbyrule144oftheRulesofProcedureoftheGeneralAssembly,whichalsostatesthataretir-ingmemberoftheCouncilwillnotbeeligibleforimmediatere-election.


astheonlycandidateforthatseat.Overthe next few years this became anincreasingly common feature. Forexample,the1960-61seatwassharedbetweenPolandandTurkey,the1962-63 term between Romania and thePhilippines and 1964-65 betweenCzechoslovakiaandMalaysia.

Bytheearly1960stherewasagrowingacceptancethattheoriginalcomposi-tion of the Council had becomeinequitableandunbalanced.Between1945 and 1965 UN membership rosefrom 51 to 117 member states, withthe proportion of Asian, African andCaribbean states increasing from 25percent to about 50 percent. On 17December1963theGeneralAssemblyadoptedresolution1991A(XVIII)whichcontainedamendmentstotheCharteraddressingtheissuebyincreasingthenumberofelectedmemberstoten.Theresolutionalsodealtwith the issueofgeographic distribution, which wasresolvedasfollows:n fivefromtheAfricanandAsianstates

(subsequentlysubdividedinpracticeinto two seats for the Asian GroupandthreeseatsfortheAfricanGroup);

n onefromEasternEuropeanstates;n two from Latin American states

(includingtheCaribbean);andn two from Western European states

andOtherstates(includingAustralia,CanadaandNewZealand).

Atthesametimearticle27wasalteredso that resolutions of the Councilrequired the vote of nine instead ofseven members. This also meantthat for the first time the permanentmemberscouldbeout-votedbynon-permanentmembers,althoughonlyonproceduralquestions.

Inthefirstelectionon12January1946the followingcountrieswereelected:Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, theNetherlands, Poland. The pattern ofgeographical distribution was: twoseats for Latin America, one for theMiddleEast,oneforEasternEurope,one forWesternEuropeandone fortheCommonwealth.

The interpretation of what equitablegeographicdistributionshouldmeanintermsofseatswasbasedonaninfor-malagreementamongthepermanentmembers sometimes known as theLondon Agreement. From the starttherewasalackofagreementonwhathadbeenagreed to.TheUSsawthe1946 formulaasonly applying to thefirst election, but the Soviet Unionmaintainedthattherehadbeenagen-tlemen’sagreementofamoregeneralnatureon the futuremeaningofgeo-graphicdistribution.

AlthoughtheCharterclearlyspecifiesatwo-yeartermforelectedmembersoftheCouncil,inadditiontothe1946-47period,split termsstarted tooccur inthe late 1950s until the Council wasenlargedin1965.Thiswasinpartdrivenbyfall-outfromthedisagreementoverregionalrotationandassociatedColdWarpolitics.Buttheaspirationsofthenewlyindependentcountrieswerealsoanimportantfactor.Thefirstexampleofthiswasseenin1955whenthePhilip-pinesandPolandwereincontest.Afterfour inconclusiveballotsPolandwith-drewandYugoslaviaentered.However,thestalematecontinuedandaftertwomonths and over thirty rounds ofvoting,itwasinformallyagreedthatthePhilippines would withdraw but thatYugoslaviawouldresignafteroneyear,atwhichpointthePhilippineswouldrun

any candidate excluded after the firstrestrictedballottocomebackagain.)

Ifaresultisnotachievedafterthreeofthese unrestricted ballots, rule 93requiresthatthepoolagainbereducedtothetoptwo.Thiscyclethenrepeatsuntil a result is achieved. The emer-gence of new candidates during theunrestricted stage is rare, but notunprecedented.Itisnotunusualafterasuccessionofinconclusiveballots,ifatrendisstartingtoemergeinonedirec-tion,forthecandidatewithfewervotestowithdraw.

Rule 94 is similar to rule 93, but isapplied when there are two or moreseatstobefilled.

Whentwoormoreelectiveplacesaretobefilledatonetimeunderthesameconditions,thosecandidatesobtain-inginthefirstballotthemajorityrequiredshallbeelected.

Rule94alsospecifiesthatifadditionalroundsofvotingarerequired,thepoolis reduced by a formula which saysthatremainingcandidatesshouldnotbe more than twice the number ofplacesavailable.

Annex 2: Historical Background

In 1946, at the outset of the UN, theCharterprovidedfor11membersoftheSecurityCouncil:fivepermanentmem-bersandsixelectedmembers.

Article23(2)includedaprovisionthatinthefirstelectionofCouncilmembers,threememberswouldbechosenforaperiodofoneyearsothatinthefuturethreenewmemberscouldbeelectedannually.Thiswasdecidedbydrawinglotsfortheone-andtwo-yearterms.

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