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.