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Panel proposes reforms of UN Security Council
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-30 14:26
A high-level panel on reforming the United Nations has proposed two
models for enlarging the U.N. Security Council, according to a major report
obtained by Reuters on Monday.
After a decade of failed approaches, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who
appointed the panel of 16 men and women, wants U.N. members to act on one of the
two proposals in 2005.
The report, due to be released on Thursday, suggests increasing members of
the council -- the most powerful U.N. body, whose decisions can be mandatory --
from 15 to 24 members.
Formed on the ruins of World War II, the council has five permanent members
with veto power -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia,
considered the war victors in 1945. Another 10 countries now rotate for two-year
terms.
But colonial empires have vanished since 1945; one-time enemies, Germany and
Japan, are active members of the United Nations, and the broader U.N. membership
is dominated by developing countries.
The new report said the council's decision-making process had to be "more
representative of the broader membership, especially of the developing world."
The report criticized the five permanent members for modest financial and
military contributions compared to their special status. At the same time, it
said the council was the body in the United Nations "most capable of organizing
action and capable of responding rapidly to new threats."
The two proposals to revamp the council are:
-- Six new permanent members without veto power: two from Asia, two from
Africa, one from Europe and one from the Americas, plus three new nonpermanent
members for a two-year term for a total of 24 seats.
Germany, which has made common cause with Japan, Brazil and India for four of
the seats, intends to introduce a resolution in the General Assembly for this
plan within the next month or so, diplomats said. The contest for Africa's two
seats is between Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, which argues that an Arab
nation needs a permanent member.
-- The second recommendation is for eight seats in a new class of members,
who would serve for four years, subject to renewal. They would include 2 each
from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. In addition, this plan foresees one
nonpermanent two-year seat for a total of 24.
This proposal is supported by countries which have little chance for
permanent membership and oppose leading contenders.
Italy, which does not want to be the only large European country without a
permanent council seat, opposes Germany; Pakistan opposes India; and Mexico and
Argentina oppose Brazil, a Portuguese-speaking country in a largely
Spanish-speaking continent.
Any change of the council membership needs approval from two-thirds of the
191-member General Assembly and no veto from the council's permanent members.
Britain, France and Russia have indicated their support of Germany, Brazil,
India and Japan. China has doubts about Japan, which pays nearly as much in dues
as the United States.
The Bush administration has pointedly refrained from supporting Germany,
which opposed the Iraq war, speaking only of support for Japan.
The 16-member panel, which has 100 proposals for reforming the world body, is
chaired by Anand Panyarachun, a former Thai prime minister. It includes Brent
Scowcroft, a former U.S. national security adviser; Yevgeni Primakov, a former
Russian prime minister; Qian Qichen, a former Chinese foreign minister, and Amr
Moussa, the Egyptian head of the Arab League.
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