African countries presented their draft resolution to expand the UN Security Council, saying the time has come to give a voice to people in the developing world and end the historic injustice that left the continent without a permanent seat on the UN's most powerful body.
Nigeria, which currently heads the 53-nation African Union, formally introduced the resolution Monday at the 191-member UN General Assembly which must approve any council expansion plan by a two-thirds vote.
There is widespread support for enlarging the Security Council to reflect the world in the 21st century rather than the global power after World War II when the UN was formed. But all previous attempts have failed because of national and regional rivalries.
The Security Council currently has 15 members, 10 elected for two-year terms to represent different regions and five permanent members with veto power -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US. The African draft resolution is the second to be introduced in a week. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, the so-called Group of Four, circulated their resolution first. But the four countries admitted Sunday that their proposal still doesn't have enough support and put off seeking a vote until the end of this month, leaving time for negotiations with the Africans.
The US and China oppose the Group of Four proposal and say the time isn't right for council reform because the disagreements among nations are too great.
Washington and Beijing can't block an initial resolution before the General Assembly, but council expansion ultimately requires a change to the UN Charter which needs approval from all five permanent members.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited world leaders to a summit in September to reform the UN and take action to meet UN development goals, including cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015. Security Council reform is the most contentious issue, and Annan said he wanted it out of the way before the summit.
The African proposal would expand the council to 26 members, adding six permanent seats with veto power and five non-permanent seats. Africa would get two permanent seats -- with South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt the frontrunners -- and two non-permanent seats.
The Group of Four's proposal would expand the council to 25 seats, adding six permanent seats but without veto power.
Brazil, Germany, India and Japan would hopefully get four of the permanent seats with the other two reserved for Africa.
The group would add four non-permanent seats, with just one for Africa. The two sides said they would negotiate over the next week and then meet again in Geneva on July 25 to discuss progress.
South African envoy Xolisa Mabhongo said member nations have a rare opportunity to make the Security Council more representative and responsive.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia