Panel puts two proposals for UNSC reform<\/p>\n
Agencies,
\nUnited Nations\/Vientiane\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
A high-level panel on reforming the United Nations has proposed
\ntwo models for enlarging the United Nations Security Council,
\naccording to a major report obtained by Reuters on Monday.<\/p>\n
After a decade of failed approaches, Secretary-General Kofi
\nAnnan, who appointed the panel of 16 men and women, wants UN
\nmembers to act on one of the two proposals in 2005.<\/p>\n
The report, due to be released on Thursday, suggests
\nincreasing members of the council -- the most powerful UN body,
\nwhose decisions can be mandatory -- from 15 to 24 members.<\/p>\n
Formed on the ruins of World War II, the council has five
\npermanent members with veto power -- the United States, Britain,
\nFrance, China and Russia, considered the war victors in 1945.
\nAnother 10 countries now rotate for two-year terms.<\/p>\n
But colonial empires have vanished since 1945; one-time
\nenemies, Germany and Japan, are active members of the United
\nNations, and the broader UN membership is dominated by developing
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
The new report said the council's decision-making process had
\nto be \"more representative of the broader membership, especially
\nof the developing world.\"<\/p>\n
The report criticized the five permanent members for modest
\nfinancial and military contributions compared to their special
\nstatus. At the same time, it said the council was the body in the
\nUnited Nations \"most capable of organizing action and capable of
\nresponding rapidly to new threats.\"<\/p>\n
The two proposals to revamp the council are:<\/p>\n
-- Six new permanent members without veto power: two from
\nAsia, two from Africa, one from Europe and one from the Americas,
\nplus three new nonpermanent members for a two-year term for a
\ntotal of 24 seats.<\/p>\n
Germany, which has made common cause with Japan, Brazil and
\nIndia for four of the seats, intends to introduce a resolution in
\nthe General Assembly for this plan within the next month or so,
\ndiplomats said. The contest for Africa's two seats is between
\nNigeria, South Africa and Egypt, which argues that an Arab nation
\nneeds a permanent member.<\/p>\n
-- The second recommendation is for eight seats in a new class
\nof members, who would serve for four years, subject to renewal.
\nThey would include 2 each from Africa, Asia, Europe and the
\nAmericas. In addition, this plan foresees one nonpermanent two-
\nyear seat for a total of 24.<\/p>\n
This proposal is supported by countries which have little
\nchance for permanent membership and oppose leading contenders.<\/p>\n
Italy, which does not want to be the only large European
\ncountry without a permanent council seat, opposes Germany;
\nPakistan opposes India; and Mexico and Argentina oppose Brazil, a
\nPortuguese-speaking country in a largely Spanish-speaking
\ncontinent.<\/p>\n
Any change of the council membership needs approval from two-
\nthirds of the 191-member General Assembly and no veto from the
\ncouncil's permanent members.<\/p>\n
In September, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
\nWirayuda had expressed the country's ambition for a permanent
\nseat on the Security Council during the UN General Assembly
\nsession.<\/p>\n
Hassan said moderate Islam must be given a voice on the
\ncouncil, adding that Indonesia, as a democratic Muslim state,
\ncould be that voice.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
\nleaders on Tuesday backed Japan's bid to become a permanent
\nmember of the United Nations Security Council, an official said.<\/p>\n
ASEAN gave its support during a meeting between Japanese Prime
\nMinister Junichiro Koizumi and his counterparts from the 10-
\nmember regional grouping on the final day of an ASEAN summit in
\nLaos.<\/p>\n
A Southeast Asian foreign ministry official who did not want
\nto be identified said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
\nBadawi told the meeting Japan was \"well placed\" to seek a seat in
\nthe Security Council and that ASEAN was giving its support.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra also said Thailand \"fully
\nsupports\" Japan's bid for the Security Council seat, the official
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Yong Chanthalangsy, the summit's spokesman, said Japan's
\ncandidacy had the support of \"most ASEAN leaders\". He did not
\nelaborate.<\/p>\n
Britain, France and Russia have indicated their support of
\nGermany, Brazil, India and Japan. China has doubts about Japan,
\nwhich pays nearly as much in dues as the United States.<\/p>\n
The Bush administration has pointedly refrained from
\nsupporting Germany, which opposed the Iraq war, speaking only of
\nsupport for Japan.<\/p>\n
The 16-member panel, which has 100 proposals for reforming the
\nworld body, is chaired by Anand Panyarachun, a former Thai prime
\nminister. It includes Brent Scowcroft, a former U.S. national
\nsecurity adviser; Yevgeni Primakov, a former Russian prime
\nminister; Qian Qichen, a former Chinese foreign minister, and Amr
\nMoussa, the Egyptian head of the Arab League.<\/p>",
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