Australia moots UNSC shakeup adding RI

Australia moots UNSC shakeup adding RI

Agence France-Presse, Sydney, Australia/Jakarta

Australian Prime Minister John Howard will put to the United Nations next week a plan to shake up the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with a permanent seat for the world's largest Islamic nation, Indonesia.

Under the plan, revealed by Howard in an interview with The Bulletin magazine, the council would be restructured as a three- tiered body replacing the existing two-tiered arrangement which has five permanent members and 10 two-year rotational seats.

Howard leaves on Friday for the United States where he will meet U.S. President George W. Bush at his Texas ranch before flying on to New York for talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia and China would retain their permanent membership and veto rights, under his plan, but another tier of five permanent non-veto seats would be added.

The final five places would continue to be elected and rotated every year or two.

The five new permanent members he proposes, Japan, India, Brazil, Germany and Indonesia, would give representation to Islamic nations and Latin America as well as the economic powerhouses of Europe and Asia.

Howard believes his plan would reshape the Council to better reflect today's geopolitical landscape, giving voice to a greater cross-section of international and cultural interests and concerns.

An enthusiastic member of the U.S.-led "coalition of the willing" in Iraq, Howard also said the United Nations had been weakened through its failure to take a strong stance on Iraq.

"I think the UN has been weakened, as I thought it would be, but I don't think it's terminal," he told the magazine. "There may be a greater momentum toward some kind of reform of the Security Council.

"I see merit in a Security Council that has three layers, the five permanent veto members -- none of them are going to give it up -- with five permanent non-veto members, then five that keep changing every year.

"The five permanent non-veto members would be, say, Japan, India, Brazil, Germany and Indonesia, an Islamic country."

He said he intended to pursue it and would discuss it with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's foreign ministry was non-committal on Wednesday about Australia's proposal for the world's most- populous Muslim country to be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

"We believe the proposal is based on Australia's objective view of Indonesia," foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

"Let them make their judgement. We have all along, since 1992, emphasized the need for reform of the UN Security Council in terms of both its membership and performance," Marty told AFP.

The spokesman noted that Indonesia, whose population of 212 million is the world's fourth largest, has been active in international peacekeeping missions and is a democracy.

The need for reform has been strengthened by the war in Iraq, he said.

"We are of the view that the legitimacy of the Security Council will be strengthened if its membership is more representative," he said.